Asked if the CAA will change the composition of the tribal areas, Shah said, “Not even a bit. CAA will not change or dilute the composition and the rights of the tribal areas.”
New Delhi: Days after the Centre issued guidelines about the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the law will never be taken back and the BJP-led government will never compromise with it.
In an interview to ANI, Amit Shah said, “This is our sovereign right to ensure Indian citizenship in our country, we will never compromise on it and CAA will never be taken back.”
Asked if the CAA will change the composition of the tribal areas, Shah said, “Not even a bit. CAA will not change or dilute the composition and the rights of the tribal areas.”
“We have made provisions in the Act itself that wherever there is an Inner Line Permit and whatever areas are included in the 6th Schedule areas, CAA will not be applicable there. The applications with the address in those areas will not be uploaded to the app. We have excluded it from the app itself,” said Shah.
Asked about the opposition INDIA bloc, specifically a Congress leader stating that they would repeal the law when they will come to power, the Home Minister said that even the opposition is aware it has bleak chances of coming to power.
“Even INDI alliance knows that it will not come into power. CAA has been brought by the BJP party, and the Narendra Modi-led government has brought it. It is impossible to repeal it. We will spread awareness about it in the whole nation so that those who want to repeal it do not get a place,” Shah said.
The union minister also dismissed criticism that the “CAA is unconstitutional” stating that it does not violate the constitutional provisions.
“They always talk about Article 14. They forget that there are two clauses in that Article. This law does not violate Article 14. There is a clear, reasonable classification here. This is a law for those who, due to partition, remained in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and were facing religious persecution and decided to come to India,” the Union Minister said.
Replying to the Opposition’s claim of the timing of bringing notification of CAA before the Lok Sabha elections, Amit Shah said, “First of all I will talk about the timing. All opposition parties including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata or Kejriwal are indulging in jhooth ki rajneeti (politics of lies) so the question of timing does not arise. BJP has made it clear in its 2019 manifesto that it will bring CAA and provide Indian citizenship to refugees (from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan). BJP has a clear agenda and under that promise, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in both houses of Parliament in 2019. It got delayed due to Covid. BJP had cleared its agenda well before the party got its mandate in the polls.”
“Rules are now a formality. There is no question of timing, political gain or loss. Now, the Opposition wants to consolidate their vote bank by doing appeasement politics. I want to request them that they have been exposed. CAA is the law for the entire country and I have reiterated nearly 41 times in four years that it will become a reality,” he said.
(With inputs from ANI)
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