‘CAA will never be taken back’: Amit Shah days after implementation
NEW DELHI, MAR 14 : Days after the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the act will never be taken back. Shah also said the states cannot block the CAA and that only Centre can allow citizenship.
“CAA will never be taken back. It is our sovereign decision to ensure Indian citizenship in our country, we will never compromise on it,” Amit Shah said in an interview with news agency ANI.
Also speaking on the implementation of the act, Amit Shah said, “There is no need for minorities or any other person to fear because there is no provision in CAA to take away anyone’s citizenship.”
CAA is only to give rights and citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Christians and Parsi refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan,” Shah said.
On the Opposition’s allegation that the BJP is creating a new vote bank through CAA, the Home Minister said, “The Opposition has no other work, they never do what they say.”
“They also said that the abrogation of Article 370 was also for our political benefit. We have been saying since 1950 that we will remove Article 370.”
Also responding to Opposition parties raising questions on the timing of CAA notification, Shah said, “All Opposition parties including Asaduddin Owaisi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee are doing politics of lies.”
“All Opposition parties, including Owaisi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Mamata Banerjee are doing politics of lies. There is no question of timing. The BJP said in its manifesto in 2019 that it would bring CAA and give citizenship to refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.”
“In 2019, it was passed by Parliament but got delayed due to Covid. The Opposition wants to do appeasement politics and wants to consolidate their vote bank. They have been exposed and the people of the country know that CAA is the law of this country. I have said 41 times in the last four years that it would be implemented before the elections.”
Shah also slammed Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and said the Chief Minister has lost his calm.
His remarks came over Kejriwal’s statement that giving citizenship to refugees will increase thefts and rapes.
“The Delhi Chief Minister has lost his calm after his corruption was exposed. He does not know that all these people have already come and are living in India. If he is so concerned, then why doesn’t he talk about Bangladeshi infiltrators or oppose the Rohingyas?”
“Kejriwal is doing vote bank politics,” Shah said, adding, “He has forgotten the background of partition and should meet the refugee families.”
On West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s remark on the CAA notification, Shah said, “The day is not far when BJP will come to power there (West Bengal) and will stop infiltration.”
“If you do this kind of politics and with such an important national security issue, you allow infiltration by doing appeasement politics and oppose the refugees from getting citizenship, then people will not be with you. Mamata Banerjee does not know the difference between a person taking refuge and an infiltrator,” he said.
WHAT AMIT SHAH SAID ON IMPLEMENTATION OF CAA IN OTHER STATES
Speaking to ANI, Amit Shah also spoke about the implementation of the CAA in other states.
On the government of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal saying they will not implement CAA in their states, Shah said, “Article 11 of our Constitution gives all the powers to make rules regarding citizenship to the Parliament.”
“This is a Centre’s subject, not the state’s. I think everyone will cooperate after the elections. They are spreading misinformation for appeasement politics,” he said.
On being asked if CAA will change the composition of the tribal areas, Shah said, “Not even a bit.”
“CAA will not change or dilute the composition and rights of the tribal areas. We have made provisions in the Act itself that wherever there is an Inner Line Permit and the areas included in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution, CAA will not be applicable there.”
“The applications with the address in those areas will not be uploaded to the app. We have excluded it from the app,” he added.
The Centre on Monday implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), five years after it was passed in Parliament.
The notification comes ahead of the announcement of dates for the Lok Sabha elections by the Election Commission of India.
-PTI
