Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 16 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday berated the Opposition for allegedly trying to push the country towards riots by spreading lies about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The Prime Minister said that granting Indian citizenship to refugees has already started under CAA and that although those in the INDIA bloc claim they will remove it nobody can "end the CAA."
Addressing a rally in Azamgarh, he also alleged that the Congress had persecuted refugees for decades and that latest example of 'Modi's guarantee' is the CAA.
"Granting Indian citizenship to refugees has already started under CAA... They all have been living in our country for a long, they are those people who have to suffer because of the partition of the country based on religion, PM Modi said.
"These (Congress) people climb the stairs of power taking the name of Mahatma Gandhi, but they don't remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi had himself ensured these people (minorities living in neighbouring countries) that they can come to India whenever they want. In the last 70 years, thousands of families have taken asylum in India to safeguard their culture and religion. However, Congress never bothered to think about them because they were not Congress' vote bank. SP, Congress and INDIA bloc are spreading lies about CAA and tried to push the country towards riots," the Prime Minister said.
PM Modi further said that he "unmasked" the intentions of Congress and SP, adding that they can not end CAA.
"It's Modi who has unmasked you. You are hypocrite, communal. You left this nation to burn in the communal fire for 60 years. I am saying it clearly, it's Modi's guarantee: 'desh-videsh kahin se bhi, jo bhi taakat ikatthi karni hai kar lo'... You can't end CAA. We are working of giving citizenship to those who are victims of partition, which has already started under CAA," he added.
The Prime Minister said that the whole world is recognising the power of India's democracy.
"I am seeing for the first time that news regarding the festival of democracy in India is all over on the front pages of newspapers in the world. This is evidence of how important India's identity is for the world. The world is watching that the people's blessings are with the BJP-NDA and on all our friends," he said.
PM Modi further said that the excitement shown by people of Srinagar in the polls is proof that no one can bring back Article 370 and do politics of "vote bank."
"Desh mein koi maai ka laal paida hua hai jo CAA hata sake? (has anyone been born in this country who can repeal the CAA?). Nobody can remove the CAA," PM Modi said.
On Wednesday, the central government handed over the first set of citizenship certificates on Wednesday, over two months after notifying the rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over citizenship certificates to some applicants.
The Home Secretary congratulated the applicants and highlighted salient features of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, as per a statement by the Union Home Ministry.
The certificates were physically handed over to 14 applicants seeking citizenship, and digitally signed certificates have been issued to many other applicants through email.
On March 11, the Union Home Ministry notified the rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule.
The CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019, aims to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants--including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians--who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014. (ANI)
