The new citizenship law promises citizenship to members of 6 non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.
Amid nationwide protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed pan-India proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday doubled down against opposition parties, challenging TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to find a provision in CAA that can take away anyone's citizenship.
The new law promises citizenship to members of 6 non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.
Speaking at a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur, he said, "I challenge Mamata Banerjee and Rahul baba, to find out a provision from Citizenship Amendment Act that can take citizenship away from anyone in this country."
"Bharat par jitna adhikaar mera aur apka hai, utna hi adhikaar Pakistan se aaye hue Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian sharanarthi ka hai (Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian refugees from Pakistan have as much right on India as you do)," Shah added.
Massive protests have erupted across the country against the new citizenship law. Some of the protests, most of them in Uttar Pradesh where 19 people have been killed, turned violent, following which the police launched a massive crackdown arresting hundreds of protesters across the state.
Critics say that the new law is against the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and clubbed with the NRC may be misused to strip away some Muslims' citizenship in the country. The BJP, however, has argued that the law has nothing to do with India's Muslims and only helps those who fled religious persecution in the neighbouring countries.
Further attacking the opposition leaders for raising questions against the government, Shah said, "Mujhe ye malum nahi padta ki Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal aur Imran Khan sabki bhasha ek samaan kyun ho gayi hain (I don't know why the language of Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Imran is the same)."
The Home Minister also attacked the Congress for allegedly stalling the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Naming former Union minister and Supreme Court advocate Kapil Sibal, Shah said, "Kapil Sibal, Congress ke vakil, kehte hain Ram Mandir nahi banna chahiye, arey Sibal bhai jitna dam ho rok lo, 4 mahine mein aasman ko chhoota hua Ram mandir ka nirmaan hone wala hai (Congress' lawyer Kapil Sibal says Ram Mandir should not be built. Sibal brother, you can put all your might, a Ram Temple touching the skies will be built in four months)."
Shah called for the jailing of students who raised anti-national slogans in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), apparently referring to the incident of February 2016.
Speaking to people at the rally, Shah said, "JNU mein kuch ladko ne Bharat virodhi naare lagaye, unhone naare lagaye 'Bharat tere tukde ho ek hazar, inshallah inshallah'. Unko jail main daalna chahiya ya nahi daalna chahiye? Jo desh virodhi naare lagaega uska sthan jail ki saalakhon ke peeche hoga. (Some students in JNU raised anti-India slogans, they said 'India will be broke into thousand parts, inshallah, inshallah'. Don't you think they will be thrown into jails? The place of those who raise anti-national slogans is behind bars)."
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 "Home Minister Amit Shah speaking in Jabalpur")
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