Stressing that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not against the Muslims, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has accused the Opposition parties of resorting to “politics of lies”.
“I have spoken on CAA at least 41 times on different platforms and spoken in detail that the minorities of the country need not be afraid because it has no provision to take back the rights of any citizen,” Mr Shah told news agency ANI in an interview.
The CAA, he said, aims to give citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Muslims, he said, have the right to apply for citizenship in India as per the rules of the Constitution, but this law is meant for persecuted minorities from these countries.
Asked if the government may rethink its decision to implement the CAA if protests begin, Mr Shah said, “CAA will never be rolled back.”
The Home Minister tore into the Opposition for targeting its decision to implement the law. Asked about Congress leader’s remark stating that they would roll back CAA when they come to power, he said, “Even INDI alliance knows that it will not come to power. CAA has been brought by the BJP, and the Narendra Modi-led government has brought it. It is impossible to repeal it. We will spread awareness across the nation so that those who want to repeal it do not get a place,” Mr Shah said
