Curated By: News Desk
News18.com
Last Updated: March 20, 2024, 18:31 IST
New Delhi, India
Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah at CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit on Wednesday. (News18)
The recently implemented Citizenship Amendment Act will not take away anyone’s citizenship, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated at the CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit on Wednesday, adding that Muslims of India have “nothing to worry about”. He also accused the opposition of spreading misconception about the new law for “vote bank” politics ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024.
The CAA was implemented on March 11 this year after the Narendra Modi government notified the rules four years after securing Parliament’s approval. The CAA seeks to grant citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
Asked at the summit why the rules were notified four years after the legislation was passed in Parliament, Amit Shah said “lot of confusion and misinformation” was spread in the country immediately after the passage of the bill followed by the Covid-19 disruption.
“The CAA won’t take anyone’s citizenship away. I am again clarifying that Muslims of this country have nothing to worry about. This was a promise made by all the stalwarts at the time of Independence. We are implementing the Liaquat–Nehru Pact,” he said.
#AmitShahOnNews18 | "Indian Muslims have absolutely nothing to fear. CAA is a law to give citizenship, not take it": Home Minister @AmitShah "If you care so much about youth's jobs, then why do you go silent when it comes to Bangladeshi intruders and Rohingyas?," he slams… pic.twitter.com/B3JhIVydwq
— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 20, 2024
On US Senator Ben Cardin, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressing concerns over CAA, Shah said: “India’s Ministry of External Affairs has already provided clarification on this matter, and I will refrain from further comment. However, I want to assert firmly that the right to grant citizenship rests with our country, and no external interference would be considered in this regard.”
Responding to Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s jibes on unemployment, Shah said: “If you are so worried about employment, why do you not speak about Rohingyas and illegal immigrants? These people are already in India. So where is the question of putting further burden on resources? If Kejriwal is so worried about where the food will come from, we can send 5kg ration to him also.”
Also seeking to allay concerns on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Amit Shah said the CAA has no provision for NRC and asked opposition parties to “stop scaring the minorities of this country”.
“Indian Muslims have nothing to fear. CAA is completely independent and does not have an NRC ‘virus’,” the senior BJP leader added.
The Amit Shah-led Union Home Ministry had also come out with a press statement recently to say that Indian Muslims need not worry as the CAA will not impact their citizenship and has nothing to do with the community.
“Indian Muslims need not worry as CAA has not made any provision to impact their citizenship and has nothing to do with the present 18 crore Indian Muslims, who have equal rights like their Hindu counterparts,” the statement said.
The ministry also launched a portal for people eligible to apply for Indian citizenship under the CAA.
