Won’t go back an inch to revoke CAA: Home Minister Amit Shah
NEW DELHI/ JODHPUR : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that the BJP won’t go back an inch to revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) even if all the opposition parties unite.
Rather, the party will work hard and reach out to the youth and minorities to make them understand that the CAA has not been introduced to snatch citizenship but to give citizenship to the religiously persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The Citizenship Amendment Act is not against the minorities and there is no question of its being withdrawn, Union minister Amit Shah reiterated today amid continuing protests against the law that has been perceived by many as “anti-Muslim”. Speaking at a rally in Jodhpur, Amit Shah attacked the opposition Congress, a party the BJP has traditionally accused of minority appeasement, and the rest of the opposition parties, accusing them of driving the protests for vote bank politics.
“Opposition Mamata Banerjee, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress are opposing the law. They are spreading falsehoods,” said Amit Shah, taking the lead in the BJP’s big push to dispel what it called “misconceptions” about the law across the country.
“If you have guts, come and debate with me. If not, then am willing to translate it (the law) to Italian so you can read it,” he said in a dig at senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. “The Congress is carrying out a misinformation campaign against the Citizen Amendment Act. Youngsters were misled and they were out on streets… No matter how much lies they spread, we will work hard and we will reach out to minorities and youngsters,” Mr Shah added.
The Congress in turn hit out at the BJP, with the party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accusing Mr Shah of a “conspiratorial and divisive agenda”.”You have put the entire country in a situation like that in 1947 with your divisive and conspiratorial agenda…You should desist from slapping your conspiratorial and divisive agenda on the country,” Mr Surjewala said in a video he posted on Twitter.
Since the citizenship law was passed last month, protests against it have been sweeping the country. In many places, it turned ugly. There have been clashes with the police, arson and vandalism. Twenty-five people have died, many of them in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Overnight students in campuses across the country were up in arms and the matter snowballed further, leading to synchronised protests over 10 states. Nine Chief Ministers refused to implement the law in their states and in Kerala, the ruling party and the opposition came together to pass a resolution against it.
The BJP finally decided on a mass outreach programme that would involve public meetings and door-to door campaign. On Sunday, top BJP leaders, led by Amit Shah, are expected to visit households across the country as part of the exercise to contact three crore families win 10 days.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act makes religion the test of citizenship for the first time. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated neighbouring nations – Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan — to get citizenship if they fled to India because of religious persecution. Critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principles of the constitution.
Kerala became the first state in the country to pass a resolution against CAA, most of the Non-BJP states might follow the legislative way soon.It poses challenge for BJP as all parties opposing CAA some out together – stronger After strong reactions from BJP’s, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan defended the move to pass a resolution against the CAA and said that “the state assemblies have their own privileges.”
“The assemblies have its own special protection and it should not be violated,” he said. Congress has strongly opposed the law which has been violating the fundamental principles of the Constitution, States ruled by Congress have refused to implement CAA. Mamata Banerjee CM of West Bengal has announced that they would not implement CAA. These states are also working on the legislature route to register its opposition to the law.
The Non-BJP state governments of West Bengal, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, had already announced that the law is “unconstitutional” and has no place in their respective state.
West Bengal CM had said, “In your (BJP) manifesto, instead of development issues, you have put in promise to divide the country. Why will citizenship be on the basis of religion? I will not accept this. We dare you…”.
Describing the Act as a direct assault on India’s secular character, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said his government would not let the legislation to be implemented in his state.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had said the Act was clearly unconstitutional. “Whatever decision is made at the Congress party forum on the bill, will be applied in Chhattisgarh,” he said.
MP CM Kamal Nath had said, “Whatever stand the Congress party has taken on Citizenship Amendment Act, we will follow that. Do we want to be a part of a process that sows seeds of divisiveness?”.
17. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are not going to be implemented in the state.
(Inputs from Jodhpur with Agency Inputs ).
