‘PM’s decision was right’: Smriti Irani defends citizenship law amid protests

Smriti Irani said the whole of India knows that the Prime Minister’s decision to implement CAA was right (File/PTI)

Badaman:

Amid protests by opposition parties, Union Minister Smriti Irani said Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s decision to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 is “right” and claimed that the country supports it the bill.

“People from Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities from countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh will be given citizenship and Prime Minister Modi has delivered on this promise,” she told the media in Badaman, Bangladesh, on Tuesday.

“Mamata Banerjee (Chief Minister of Bengal) will try to incite some communities to support her vote bank, but the whole of India knows that Prime Minister Modi has made the right decision,” Ms. Iran said.

A day earlier, Mamata Banerjee criticized the Modi government over the CAA notification, saying it was just an election gimmick and anyone applying for citizenship under the CAA would be labeled as an “illegal immigrant”.

“The central government implemented the CAA yesterday. I have doubts about its legality. The government has not given any clarity on this. It is a pre-election gimmick. In 2019, a total of 1.3 million Hindu Bengali names and 1.9 million names were taken in the name of NRC Removed from Assam’s list. Several people died by suicide,” Mamata Banerjee said.

Ms. Banerjee said the CAA was linked to the NRC and those applying for the CAA would immediately be considered illegal immigrants despite being citizens of the country. She added that the BJP thought it had suffered six blows but that was just a duck.

“I will be happy even if only one person does the right thing. I will protect everyone. Do you know how many churches were burnt in Manipur? When women marched naked in Manipur, BJP leaders Where? Honestly, “Don’t you have an Aadhaar card?” Do you have land and a store? Once you apply for CAA, you become an illegal person,” she said.

The Union Home Ministry had notified the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules on March 11, days before announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections.

The CAA rules were proposed by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019 to provide persecuted non-Muslim immigrants (Hindus, Sikhs, Jains) from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. Hindus, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians) are granted Indian citizenship. Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

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