'Appeasement': Amit Shah slams Congress over CAA backlash
Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday slammed the Congress for opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday slammed the Congress for opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, saying their sentiments against the law stem from “appeasement and vote-bank politics". His remark comes a day after the Centre implemented the law and notified its rules, over four years after the parliament passed the legislation.
“We had said we will bring CAA. The Congress party opposed the CAA. Since Independence, it was a promise of the Congress and makers of our Constitution that citizenship would be granted to those persecuted on religious grounds in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, who come (to India). But, due to appeasement and vote-bank politics, the Congress party opposed the CAA,” Amit Shah said while speaking at the social media warriors' meet in Hyderabad's Secunderabad.
He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“PM Modi honoured Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain refugees through CAA…To save their faith and honour, lakhs and crores of people from Pakistan and Bangladesh came to India but were not granted citizenship…They felt insulted in their own country when they were not granted citizenship,” he said.
Amit Shah's comments come a day after the Centre implemented CAA and notified its rules more than four years after the parliament passed the legislation in December 2019.
Congress, other opposition parties oppose CAA
The Congress on Monday lashed out at the Modi government for notifying CAA, questioning the timing of the move. Referring to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the “time taken to notify the rules for the CAA is yet another demonstration of the Prime Minister’s blatant lies”.
Congress workers led by leader of the opposition in Assam assembly Debabrata Saikia staged a protest in front of its state headquarters in Guwahati on Tuesday against the implementation of CAA. Some of them even burnt copies of the law during the demonstration.
Meanwhile, several other opposition parties also hit out at the Centre.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the rules notified are “unconstitutional and discriminatory”, and urged people to “think several times” before applying for citizenship under the law.
“I have doubts if the CAA rules notified yesterday have legal validity. There is no clarity on it. The CAA and the rules framed are unconstitutional, and discriminatory under Article 14 of the Constitution, which is the fundamental right to equality,” Banerjee said.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin also dismissed the CAA as “divisive and bereft of any use”, and asserted that he will not implement it in the southern state. “There is not going to be any use or benefits due to the CAA, which only paves the way for creating divisions among the Indian people. The stand of the government is that this law is completely unwarranted…it is one that must be repealed,” Stalin said.
What is CAA?
The CAA, introduced by PM Modi-led government, aims to confer Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and entered India till December 31, 2014, due to “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution”.
After the CAA was introduced in the Parliament in December 2019, massive protests erupted in Assam and other parts of the country.