Past govts welcomed ‘intruders’, denied citizenship to refugees: Shah in Gujarat

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 18

Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday reiterated the Centre’s often-repeated stand that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was about granting citizen status, instead of taking it away.

“I would like to make it clear to my Muslim brothers and sisters that CAA is about granting citizenship, not snatching it,” he said at a programme held in Ahmedabad to distribute citizenship certificates to individuals who took refuge in India.

Shah alleged that refugees had been denied their rights due to “appeasement politics” of past governments. He said people seeking refuge in India were not given “justice” from 1947 to 2014.

He also alleged that refugees were tortured in neighbouring countries because they were Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains. “However, they were also tortured in their own country. The appeasement politics of INDI alliance did not serve them justice. PM Modi gave them justice,” Shah added.

The Home Minister also alleged that past governments allowed “intruders” into the country and illegally granted them citizenship, while denying it to those who followed the law and applied for the same. This was done by telling refugees that there was no legal provision for citizenship, he said.

He added that Bangladesh had 27 per cent Hindu population at the time of Partition, but today they were just 9 per cent, as they have been subjected to forced religious conversions. Shah handed over citizenship certificates to 188 Pakistani Hindu refugees during the function.

Shah said, “I congratulate these families who got citizenship. I am even happier that this is happening in Gujarat. CAA is an initiative to give people their rights and justice. The Congress party never gave people their rights until 2014. Lakhs and crores of people kept waiting for their rights, but they never got justice under the INDIA bloc.”