New Delhi:

Days after the Center notified the Citizenship Amendment Act, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the law will never be taken back and the BJP-led government will never compromise with it.

“This is our sovereign right to ensure Indian citizenship. We will never compromise on this and the CAA will never be taken back,” he said.

When asked about the statements by India’s opposition groups, especially leaders of the Congress party, that they would repeal the law if they come to power, the home minister said even the opposition realizes that its chances of coming to power are slim.

“Even the INDI alliance knows it will not come to power. The CAA was proposed by the BJP and the Narendra Modi-led government. Repealing it is not possible. We will spread awareness about it across the country , so that those who want to abolish it do not get a seat,” Mr Shah said.

The Union Minister dismissed the criticism that the CAA is unconstitutional and said that it does not violate the constitutional provisions.

“They always talk about Article 14. They forget that there are two clauses in that Article. The Act does not violate Article 14. There is a clear and reasonable classification here. This is for those who stayed in the US due to Partition The law of man. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh are facing religious persecution and therefore decided to come to India,” the Union Minister said.

Responding to the opposition’s claims about timing of notification before Lok Sabha polls, Amit Shah said: “First, I want to talk about timing. All opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banna Ji and Arvind Kejriwal, are doing Politics in Jos (The Politics of Lies). So there is no time issue. The BJP made it clear in its 2019 manifesto that it would introduce the CAA and provide Indian citizenship to refugees (from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan). It has a clear agenda and in line with this commitment, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament in 2019. The bill was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The BJP has made its agenda clear long before it gets a mandate in the polls. “

“The rules are now a formality. There is no question of timing, political gain or loss. Now, the opposition parties want to consolidate their vote bank through appeasement politics… They have been exposed. CAA is the law of the entire country as I have reiterated for four years Nearly 41 times, this will become a reality,” he said.

The Home Minister said, “There is no question of political gain as the main objective of the BJP is to provide rights and justice to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

“The opposition has questioned the surgical strike and abrogation of Article 370 and linked it to political gains. So shouldn’t we take stringent measures to fight terrorism? We have been saying since 1950 that we will revoke Article 370 ,” the interior minister said.

“I have spoken on the CAA at least 41 times on different platforms and spoke at length about how the country’s minorities need not be afraid as it has no provision to take back the rights of any citizen. The objective of the CAA is to grant citizenship to persecuted non-citizens in India. Muslim immigrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians – who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014. Through this With this law, their suffering can end.” added.

The home minister criticized opposition leaders – AIMIM’s Asaddudin Owaisi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee – for claiming that the CAA is anti-Muslim.

“You cannot look at this law in isolation. On August 15, 1947, our country was divided. Our country was divided into three parts. The RSS and the RSS have always been against partition. We never wanted India to be divided on the basis of religion. And the division,” he said.

“So when the country was divided on the basis of religion, minorities faced persecution. They were converted, women were tortured, they came to India. They came seeking asylum. Don’t they have the right to citizenship? Even Congress leaders during Partition ‘s speech said that due to widespread bloodshed, minorities should stay where they are and be welcomed later in our country. Now they have started vote bank politics,” Mr Shah added.

He said it was the government’s moral responsibility to ensure the rights of the persecuted.

“It is our social and constitutional responsibility that those who were part of Akhand Bharat and were prosecuted or tortured should be given shelter in India. Now, if you look closely at the statistics, when Partition happened, in Pakistan, there are 23% Hindus and Sikhs, but now only 3.7% are left. Where have they gone? They are not back here. They have been converted, tortured, humiliated. They have been given second-class citizenship status. Where will they go? Will the country? Don’t parliament and political parties consider this?” said the interior minister.

“There are only around 500 Hindus in Afghanistan now…don’t they have the right to live according to their faith? They were our brothers when Bharat was a Hindu,” he added.

Slamming Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks, the Union minister said CAA will take away jobs from India’s youth and may lead to rise in crime, saying those who will benefit from the law Already in India.

“If they are so worried, why are they not talking about Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingyas? Because they are engaging in vote bank politics. Delhi elections are tough for them. That is why they are indulging in vote bank politics,” he said.

Amit Shah also questioned Mamata Banerjee’s claim that minorities will be stripped of their citizenship due to the CAA.

“I request Mamataji that there are several platforms for political activities. Please do not harm Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh. I openly challenge her to show a clause which provides for stripping citizenship of any Indian. Her aim was to “create divisions between Hindus and Muslims to consolidate the vote bank. CAA must be implemented. If she wanted to do anything, she should stop the penetration. But she was uncooperative,” Amit Shah said.

On March 11, the Federal Ministry of Home Affairs notified the implementation details of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

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

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)