Updated: December 28, 2019 2:09:27 pm
Shah said that after Partition, the Nehru-Liaquat pact was signed in which both India and Pakistan had declared they would protect their minorities. “India protected its minorities… while this did not happen in Bangladesh and Pakistan, he said.
Accusing the Congress of spreading misinformation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act had no provision of taking away anyone’s citizenship.
Addressing a large gathering in Shimla on the occasion of the party completing two years in power in Himachal Pradesh, Shah said, “This Act has no provision of snatching the citizenship of anyone, including minorities. It only has the provision of granting citizenship to minorities who came here from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
There was no mention of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in his speech.
Accusing “Congress and company” of spreading rumours that “the citizenship of Muslim brothers is set to go away”, the BJP chief said, “Main challenge deta hun yahan se Rahul Baba ko. Ye poore Act ke andar ek bhi jageh pe kisi ki bhi nagrikta lene ka agar pravdhan hai to krupya bata dijiye (I challenge Rahul Gandhi, tell me if there is any provision of taking away citizenship in the entire Act).”
Shah said that after Partition, the Nehru-Liaquat pact was signed in which both India and Pakistan had declared they would protect their minorities. “India protected its minorities… while this did not happen in Bangladesh and Pakistan, he said.
“From 30 per cent and 23 per cent, the population there declined to three and seven per cent… lakhs came here following religious persecution. They asked us to grant them citizenship as promised by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Babu and the Constitution. We are living a life of hell, they said. They neither had homes nor citizenship. Neither jobs nor health and educational facilities. Nobody was listening to them. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an initiative and brought forth the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill…” he added.
He further said, “I want to tell the public, especially my brothers and sisters from the minorities, this Act is now on the Government of India’s website. This Congress and company, they are spreading rumours… that the citizenship of Muslims is set to go away… Please do not spread misinformation and disturb the peace of the country. If you have information, bring it before the public.”
The Union minister said that the mindset of the world towards India had changed after the country carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan to end terrorism.
“Earlier, it was a challenge to hoist the national flag in Kashmir but now after the abrogation of Article 370, the fluttering of the Tricolour in the Valley is giving a message to the world,” he said, according to a PTI report.
Claiming that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre was working to end corruption, he said no opposition party could accuse the Union government of corruption.
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