Amit Shah Reacts To CAA Criticism (Image:twitter.com/BJP4India/)
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will never be revoked, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted. In an interview with news agency ANI, the minister stated that ensuring Indian citizenship within the country is our sovereign right and the government will never compromise on this matter.
Regarding the implementation of the contentious act, Amit Shah stressed that minorities or any other person need not be scared because CAA does not include any conditions that could take away anyone”s citizenship. The act only meant to provide rights and citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Christians and Parsi refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the Minister said.
Amit Shah dismissed the criticism levelled by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his party concerning the CAA. Following, he demanded Rahul Gandhi to explain Congress” stance on CAA publicly. Four years after the passing of the CAA in parliament, the Centre government notified the CAA-19 rules on Monday.
The opposition and its politics of appeasement have been exposed now. I have always said that CAA will be implemented before elections.
“Will of legislators” was clear when both the houses passed the bill. The rules are still the same as when the bill was proposed.
For BJP, it… pic.twitter.com/cxve7Bvmbk
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 14, 2024
In response to the Opposition”s allegations that the BJP is attempting to forge new vote bank through the CAA, Union Minister said: “The Opposition has no other work, they never do what they say.” Every guarantee given by Prime Minister Modi is fulfilled, he added.
Dismissing Opposition”s claim that the ruling party is using CAA for reaping political benefits, Amit Shah pointed out that the former had similar skeptical attitude towards the advantages of surgical strikes and the abrogation of Article 370 also. “They also said that the abrogation of Article 370 was also for our political benefit. We have been saying since 1950 that we will remove Article 370,” he said.
Continuing further, Amit Shah refuted the allegation that “CAA is unconstitutional,” and emphasised that it does not defy the constitutional provisions. Union Minister attacked opposition parties including including Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee and Asaduddin Owaisi for indulging in “politics of lies”.
In the interview, Amit Shah said that the implementation of CAA was delayed due to Covid and then other factors. Therefore, questioning the timeline of CAA is irrelevant. “For BJP, it is not a matter of political gain. For us, it”s an issue of humanitarian justice,” Union Minister stressed.
We had declared in our political manifesto of 2019 that we would bring CAA and give citizenship to religiously persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2019. The implementation was delayed due to COVID… pic.twitter.com/37pOIIG37t
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 14, 2024
Slamming AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal”s remark that giving citizenship to refugees will increase crimes, Amit Shah replied that Chief Minister has lost his calm after exposing his corruption.
Similarly, attacking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee“s remark on the CAA notification, Amit Shah said that Chief minister does not know the difference between a person taking refuge and an infiltrator.
Union Minister has also attacked Chief Ministers from non-BJP ruled states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal for raising opposition to the implementation of the CAA, in which they claimed that they would not permit its execution within their states. He said that the Article 11 of the Constitution gives powers to make rules concerning citizenship to the Parliament. “This is a Centre”s subject, not the state”s. I think everyone will cooperate after the elections. They are spreading misinformation for appeasement politics,” he added.
He further said that the provisions of CAA will not change or dilute the composition and rights of the tribal areas.
The act expedites citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. The implementation of the CAA was the highlight of the BJP’s election campaign before the 2019 election, and its implementation aligns with Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent assurance that the CAA will indeed be notified prior to the upcoming election.
