Not a single Indian Muslim will be affected by either CAA, NRC: Rajnath Singh

MANGALURU: Defence minister Rajnath Singh while asserting that not a single Muslim in India will be thrown out of the country due to National Register of Citizens (NRC) said the Bharatiya Janata Party will throw its might behind the community if a single member of this community feels persecuted by Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s credo of Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas aur Sab Ka Vishwas, he noted.
Assailing Congress for spreading sense of fear among Muslims regarding a law that both houses of parliament debated on and passed, Rajnath addressing a mammoth public awareness rally on CAA/NRC organised by district unit of BJP on Monday, said BJP has merely fulfilled wish that Gandhiji had directed the Congress to do post-Independence. This was also in the resolution adopted by Congress Working Committee on November 25, 1947, he said.
Asking the crowd if government discriminated based on religion in implementing its various flagship programmes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Ayushman Bharat or in providing various infrastructure works, Rajnath wondered how the same government could discriminate among its citizens with CAA. “How can the opposition now accuse us of being discriminatory with this step their leaders wanted,” he quipped.
Reminding the Congress that it implemented the NRC based on a Supreme Court directive, Rajnath said, “NRC naam ki chidiya hum (BJP) logon ne nahin laya tha!” CAA is a balm that the government is using to apply on souls of persecuted minorities from India’s theocratically ruled neighbours and is not to hurt any Indian citizen, he said, adding that Congress that is seeped in hatred for the ruling government can’t see anything good in what it does.
Noting that there is a concerted attempt on part of the Congress to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims using the CAA, Rajnath said it will not be a wonder if there are foreign powers too behind this move. The former BJP national chief exhorted the party’s rank and file to explain to the Muslims that their citizenship is not under any threat and they will continue to enjoy their rights as any other citizen of the country continues to do.
Appealing to the opposition to follow the ‘opposition dharma’, Rajnath said in doing so, they should not forget the ‘national dharma’. Instead let the opposition question the continuing persecution of the minorities in neighbouring Pakistan, he said. While the CAA is only to accommodate persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, majority of whom are Dalits, why should anyone have any objection to it, he wondered.
Noting that as home minister in Modi government’s first innings he had given citizenship to more than 600 Muslims including Pakistani singer Adnan Sami, Rajnath said Muslims from ‘theocratic’ neighbouring countries wanting to become Indian citizens are still able to do so under CAA provisions. Even with NPR that Congress introduced in 2010, no one will be forced to give their personal details such as their father’s name or date of birth, he said.