Amit Shah highlighted that the legislation’s intent is to confer citizenship rather than strip anyone of their citizenship rights.
On Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be enforced before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Enacted in December 2019, the CAA’s objective is to offer citizenship to persecuted refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. It proposes amendments to the Citizenship Act of 1955, extending eligibility for Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian illegal migrants from these nations.
Shah emphasized that the legislation aims to grant citizenship rather than “take away anyone’s citizenship.”
Speaking at the ET Now-Global Business summit in Delhi, Amit Shah clarified, “CAA is an act of the country… It will be notified before the polls. There should be no confusion around it. 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.”
Amit Shah also accused the previous Congress government of “reneging” on the commitment to implement the CAA in the country.
Amit Shah stated, “CAA was a promise of the Congress government. When the country was divided and the minorities were persecuted in those countries, Congress had assured the refugees that they were welcome in India and they will be provided with Indian citizenship. Now they are backtracking,” as reported by ANI.
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Despite the controversy and widespread protests surrounding the implementation of the CAA, Amit Shah has reassured that the Act cannot revoke anyone’s citizenship, emphasizing the absence of such a provision. He underscores that the CAA aims to provide citizenship to those facing persecution in their home countries, not to strip Indian citizenship from anyone.
Amit Shah, in anticipation of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, has conveyed confidence in the BJP’s and NDA’s chances, foreseeing a significant victory and a third consecutive term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
In response to the potential inclusion of parties like Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Jayant Choudhary and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Home Minister Amit Shah remarked that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believes in family planning but not in politics.