CAA, NRC WILL NOT HURT INDIAN MUSLIMS, SAYS BHAGWAT

GUWAHATI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) will not harm Indian Muslims and that a communal narrative was being peddled by some to gain political mileage.

At an event in Guwahati, Bhagwat also said that there were organised attempts to increase the Muslim population since 1930 in Punjab, Sindh, Bengal, Assam to establish dominance and turn the country into Pakistan. He said this “plan” was somewhat successful with Partition, but failed to get Assam and other provinces in full.

“After Independence, the first prime minister of the country said that minorities will be taken care of, and that has been done so far. We will continue to do so. No Muslim will face any loss due to CAA,” Bhagwat said at the launch of Gauhati University professor Nani Gopal Mahanta’s book on NRC and CAA. Bhagwat insisted the CAA and NRC are not against any Indian citizen. “The (1950) Nehru-Liaquat Pact clearly stated that each country would protect its minorities. India has been following it, Pakistan failed to do so.”

The RSS chief said Indians always welcomed outsiders but designs by some to “impose their language, religion and food habits” had led to fears. “Since 1930, there have been organised attempts at increasing Muslim population in a planned manner. The design was to increase population in order to exercise their dominance and slowly turn this nation into Pakistan,” said Bhagwat.

“This was true for Punjab, Sindh, Assam and Bengal. The plan worked to an extent as India got partitioned and Pakistan got created. But it didn’t happen entirely as planned and Assam didn’t go to Pakistan, though part of Bengal and Punjab got divided,” he added. The RSS leader, who is on his first visit to Assam after the BJP returned to power in state in May, said the law is meant to provide protection to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries seeking asylum in India.