Union Home Minister and Minister for Cooperation Amit Shah distributed citizenship certificates to 188 refugee brothers under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Sunday. In his address, Amit Shah said that the CAA is not only aimed at granting citizenship to millions of people settled in the country but also providing justice and rights to millions of refugees.
He said that due to the appeasement policy of the previous governments, people who took refuge in the country from 1947 to 2014 did not get their rights and justice. “These people had to bear abuses not only in the neighbouring countries but also here. These millions of people yearned for justice for three generations but due to the appeasement policy of the opposition, they did not get justice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided justice to these hundreds and millions of people,” he said.
The Union Home Minister further said that at the time of independence, India was divided on religious lines and there were serious riots at that time. He said that millions of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Christians living in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh cannot forget their sufferings.
“Many families were devastated while those in the opposition now promised that Indian citizenship would be granted to people from Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Christian communities from neighbouring countries. By the time elections came, the then government leaders had broken their promises and the assurances they had given in 1947, 1948 and 1950 had been forgotten. The then government did not grant citizenship to these people because that would have angered its voters. Because of its policy of appeasement, millions of such people were deprived of citizenship and there can be no greater sin than that,” said Amit Shah.
He also stressed that the law is for the people and not the people for the law. He said that we had promised in 2014 that we would bring the CAA and in 2019 the Modi government brought this law. “Through this law, millions of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, who did not get justice, started getting justice. This law was passed in 2019 but even after that, people were provoked and told that it would take away citizenship from Muslims. There is no provision in this law to take away citizenship from anyone and it is a law to give citizenship. People of our own country are living in destitution in our own country, what can be more unfortunate and ironic than this?” he said.
The Union Home Minister said that this law does not provide for any criminal prosecution and amnesty has been granted to all. He said that this has been done because the delay in granting citizenship is due to the government and not to the people. He told the refugees across the country that this law will serve to give justice and honour and will be an atonement for the atrocities that were committed against the refugees.
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