Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday addressed a large group of protesters opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Jamia Millia Islamia, lauding their “spirit of resistance” and called for unity.
‘Undemocratic efforts’
“What has happened to bring us to this point is the undemocratic and discriminatory efforts by the government to marginalise one community in India,” said Mr. Tharoor.
“As it is often said na mera hai na tera hai, yeh hindustan sabka hai. Aur na samjhenge ye baat toh nuksan sabka hai [This is not mine or yours, India is for everyone. If you don’t get this then everyone will be affected],” he said.
He said Mahatma Gandhi had died for the unity of the countryand “the India that Gandhi fought for is not the India where we will see religion being introduced into citizenship”.
The leader said Home Minister Amit Shah’s submissions in the parliament that the “discriminatory CAA” would be followed by the National Register of Citizens (NRC), cannot be accepted because the NRC would “put the onus on only one community to prove it’s citizenship.”
“This is not the India that people like Subhash Chopra [Delhi Congress chief] and I will ever accept. We want an India where everyone is equal, everyone is free...You can be Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, it does not matter. If you are an Indian, you have the same rights, the same privileges, the same duties,” he added.
‘A fight for all’
He said Jamia has always been one of the greatest universities in the country “but today, the greatest thing about Jamia, is your spirit. Your spirit of resistance. We stand with you, with the courage you have shown. This is a fight for all. Stay together, succeed together, live together, dream the same dream together. Jai Hind,” he said.
The Congress MP along with Mr. Chopra also visited the protest site at Shaheen Bagh and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
