Shah says Cong is misleading people on CAA, Rahul hits back
CHALLENGES RAHUL Asks senior Congress leader to point to a single provision in CAA that will strip minority communities or Muslims of their citizenship
SHIMLA/RAIPUR: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday accused the Congress of disrupting peace in the country by spreading rumours about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act , even as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi likened the National Population Register and National Register for Citizens exercises to demonetisation and said they akin to imposing “tax” on the poor. “I challenge Rahul baba (Rahul Gandhi) that let me know if there is even a single line in the act regarding the withdrawal of anyone’s citizenship,” Shah said during a rally in Shimla.
“Whether NPR or NRC, it is a tax on poor people of the country,” Gandhi said while addressing the media in Raipur.
SHIMLA: Even as nationwide protests continued over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused the opposition Congress of spreading rumours and disrupting peace by misleading people.
Addressing a rally at Shimla to mark two years of the Jai Ram Thakur-led Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) government in Himachal Pradesh, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ensured that CAA would not strip minorities of their citizenship.
“Congress and company are spreading rumours that it (Citizenship Amendment Act) will strip minority communities, Muslim brethren, of their citizenship,” Shah alleged. “I challenge Rahul Baba (Gandhi) to point out one (such) provision.”
Asking the Congress to stop the “propaganda”, he said, “if you have the facts then go to the public.”
The CAA was meant for grant of citizenship to minority communities coming to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, he reiterated.
Mentioning the Nehru-Liaquat Pact signed by India and Pakistan in 1950 to protect minority communities within their respective territories, the BJP national president, who wore a Himachali cap, said, “India implemented the treaty in letter and spirit as protection of minorities was a duty bestowed on us by the Constitution.”
In Pakistan and Bangladesh, however, the population of minority communities decreased to 3% and 7%, respectively, he added.
Lakhs and crores of people, who had suffered years of repression, fled to India and took shelter here. It was Prime Minister Modi who took the courageous step to grant citizenship to these stateless people.
On article Article 370, Shah said he remembered as a 13-yearold raising the slogan, “Ek desh mein do vidhan, do pradhan nahi aur do nishan nahi chalenge (A country should not have two sets of laws, two leaders or two symbols).”
‘KASHMIR IS SHINING CROWN OF OUR UNITED COUNTRY’
Praising PM Modi for scrapping Article 370 as a message to the world that Kashmir was an integral part of India, Shah said, “Today, Kashmir is a shining crown of our united country,”
This government also took historic steps for national security, Shah said, and when Pakistan backed terrorists carried out attacks in Uri and Pulwama, India replied by conducting surgical and air strikes deep within Pakistan territory.
“India is the third nation after the US and Israel that is capable of carrying out such military operations,” he said.
Striking an emotional chord with the audience, Shah said Modi shared a special attachment with the state and had lost no time in restoring the special status of Himachal Pradesh with 90% assistance in the centrally sponsored scheme after becoming Prime Minister for the first wtime.
The Modi regime had ensured that Himachal had an All India Institute of Medical Sciences, three medical colleges, an Indian Institute of Management, NDRF Battalion, package under the
UDAN scheme, a PGI Satellite Centre and 69 National Highways, Shah said.
He also lauded the public-ori
ented schemes launched by Jai Ram Thakur government including Janmanch, Grihini Suvidha Yojna and HimCare.
A smoke free Himachal with every household having an LPG connection is also a very big achievement, he said.