Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Coal Pralhad Joshi on Sunday accused the Congress of inciting violence by provoking Muslims over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) out of frustration over the “decline in its political and electoral graph”.
Mr. Joshi told reporters in Bengaluru that the Congress was unable to tolerate the rise of the BJP and of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stature. “But this won’t work and the Muslim community has realised the diabolical plot of the Congress,” he said.
Asserting that CAA was all about giving citizenship to six religious minorities coming from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and not about taking citizenship away from anyone in India, Mr. Joshi said, “CAA is inclusive and is in the right spirit of ‘ sabka saath, sabka vikaas, sabka vishwas ’. But the Congress, the left parties, TMC and some so-called intellectuals have raised a hue and cry over a non-issue.”
Mr. Joshi challenged Congress leaders to prove even one negative aspect of CAA and claimed that none of them could raise any substantial or logical issues about it either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.
He said that anyone, from any part of the world, can apply for Indian citizenship, and it would be taken up for consideration under the existing Indian Citizenship Act of 1955 and not under CAA. “Singer Adnan Sami, writer Taslima Nasreen and 500 Muslim families have been given citizenship under the 1955 Act. Naturalisation is yet another process through which one can obtain citizenship,” he said.
