Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The bill was passed by Parliament in December 2019 and received criticism throughout the country. Muslim citizens took to the streets to demonstrate against the bill.
“CAA is an act of the country; it will definitely be notified. It will be notified before the polls. CAA will be implemented by the polls, and there should be no confusion around it,” Shah announced while speaking to ET Now-Global Business.
He accused Congress of ‘backtracking’ on their promise of CAA. “CAA was a promise of the Congress government. When the country was divided and minorities were persecuted in those countries, Congress assured the refugees that they were welcome in India and that they would be provided with Indian citizenship. Now they are backtracking,” he said.
CAA will be implemented ‘to provide citizenship and not to take away anyone’s citizenship,’ Amit Shah asserted in categorical terms. “Minorities in our country, and especially our Muslim community, are being provoked. CAA cannot snatch away anyone’s citizenship because there is no provision in the Act. CAA is an act to provide citizenship to refugees who were persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan,” he said.
Following the passage of the CAA Bill by the parliament in December 2019, massive protests erupted in the country, leading to communal violence, deaths, injuries, and arrests.
Meanwhile, speaking about the upcoming polls, Shah said he was confident the Narendra Modi government would return to power, with the BJP getting 370 seats and the NDA more than 400.
“This election is not about I.N.D.I.A. vs. NDA. This is about corrupt governance vs. zero tolerance against corruption. This election is about those who want to secure national security vs. those who, in the name of foreign policy, endanger national security,” the Union Home Minister said.
