566 Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were granted Indian citizenship: HP Chief Minister
Opposition politicising CAA and misleading people: Thakur accuses
Dehradun: After facing stiff agitation from opposition Congress and other political parties across the nation, BJP leaders have stepped up campaign to educate common masses about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, while addressing a press conference at Dehradun in Uttarakhand today elaborated that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), passed by the Union Government recently was only intended to help minority communities facing religious persecution in the three neighbouring countries. He clarified that the Act has no provision of taking away anyone’s citizenship and was in no way against any community or sect. Chief Minister said
“an agreement was signed between Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat Ali to protect the minority communities of the respective countries. India abides by this Pact but in Pakistan, the condition of the minority is pathetic.”
Jai Ram Thakur said that since, the Constitutions of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh provided for a specific state religion, many persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities have faced persecution on grounds of religion in those countries. He said that this resulted into continuous large-scale migration of minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Jai Ram Thakur accused the Congress and other opposition leaders of politicising the CAA to mislead the people by spreading false canard. He said that the Act has nothing against the minority communities already living in India as they were already citizens of this great nation. He stated
“Act is only for the migrants from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Pakistan or Bangladesh who has fled these countries due to atrocities there and seeks to grant immunity to the migrants of the aforesaid Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities so that any proceeding against them regarding their status of migration or citizenship does not bar them from applying for Indian citizenship.”
Chief Minister said that the incident of Sri Nankana Sahib was a glaring example of atrocities against the minority communities in Pakistan. He said that the CAA is an attempt to provide relief to persecuted minorities.
Jai Ram Thakur has blamed Congress leaders for making a mountain out of mole as they have no issue and want to divert the attention of the people from the core issue of development. He said that every minority in this country are free, secure and independent to practice the religion of their choice. He said that the CAA was no way against any citizen of the country belonging to any religion or sect, and it’s opposition’s ploy to intimidate the minorities of India by misleading them by terming this CAA as anti-minorities. He said that during the last five years itself as many as 566 Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were granted Indian citizenship.
