Let Rahul Gandhi take infiltrators to Italy: Giriraj Singh

RANCHI: Union minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday dodged questions on the reasons for BJP's defeat in the recent state assembly election while batting for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Refusing to take queries on whether CAA was a hurdle for BJP in the state polls, Singh said minority Hindus who had fled Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing persecution have a right to Indian citizenship.He added that infiltrators will have to leave as the country is not a "dharamshala" for them.
Singh also took a leaf out of Union home minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches and blamed Congress, "tukde tukde" gang and urban naxals for creating disharmony by misleading the public on the CAA.
He said, "For us, India is a priority and the step (CAA) has been taken to strengthen the country and there is no turning back. We are committed to grant citizenship to these persecuted minorties who have taken refuge in India. I feel that they should get houses, too."
Upping the ante against Rahul Gandhi, the minister said, "India is not a dharamshala. Let Rahul take the infiltrators to Italy and give them citizenship there. There are laws for registration and getting identity cards for citizens in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and nobody protests there. We are only trying to undo the atrocities meted out by Congress on these people who were part of the minority communities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. We are only washing the sin committed by Congress against these hapless people."
He added, "This issue dates back to the time when the nation saw religion become the basis for Partition and the minority communities like, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Jains in those countries fell prey to religious persecution. They (Congress) never acknowledged the pain and troubles faced by these minority communities who were living in pathetic conditions in India. Instead they milked them by making them their vote banks. Today, Congress is trying to spread misinformation across the nation."
Singh also quoted Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and a host of other leaders to drive home his point that they, too, had wanted to resolve the issue of granting Indian citizenship to these immigrants from the three neighbouring countries.