Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain refugees through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) by giving them citizenship. He also accused the Congress of opposing CAA due to appeasement and vote-bank politics.
"We had said we will bring CAA. The Congress party opposed CAA. Since Independence it has been a promise of the Congress and makers of our Constitution that citizenship will 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," the home minister said, referring to the recent notification on the implementation of CAA.
Shah said that crores of people came to India from Pakistan and Bangladesh to save their faith and honour but were not granted citizenship. He said that they were insulted in their own countries when they were not granted citizenship, but PM Modi honoured them.
The CAA was notified on Monday, four years after the law was passed by Parliament in 2019, which led to widespread protests across the country. The Modi government aimed to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. The notification came days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, an application has been filed a day after the government notified the CAA in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to stay its implementation. The application was filed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which is one of the petitioners who have challenged the citizenship law.
It has urged the apex court to direct the Centre to provisionally permit people belonging to the Muslim community also to apply for citizenship and submit a report on their entitlement.