New Delhi: Over the past few weeks, protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) have escalated across the country. Multiple protest rallies in the Indian capital and other cities are being witnessed. There have been detentions of political leaders and intellectuals voicing their protest against the CAA.
Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur on Monday said that the protests against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) are politically motivated.
In an interview with ETV Bharat, Thakur asserted that the CAA will grant citizenship to the persecuted communities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and this will not strip anyone of Indian citizenship.
Thakur, who represents Hamirpur in the Lok Sabha, urged people not to get misled by false information about CAA.
Here is the interview with Anurag Thakur for ETV Bharat
Q - As the Anti-CAA protests escalate across India, what went wrong that the government failed to make people understand about the Citizenship Act?
Not in all parts of India, among 320 universities in India, only 20-25 universities are protesting and that too because of Congress, as they are trying to mislead people.
The truth is CAA is an act to provide citizenship to people, not to withdraw it from them.
And citizenship will be given to people who are minorities of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan namely-- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Christain, Parsis and Buddhists.
These religions are forced to change their faith in those countries, they misbehave with girls and women of our country; to protect them we are giving citizenship to them.
And this is not the first time it is happening in our country, it has happened earlier too. Hindu from Uganda got citizenship, Tamils from Sri Lanka got citizenship, in fact, after the 1971 War between India and Pakistan, Hindus from Bangladesh got citizenship, all in Congress regime and now Congress is protesting.
I have to ask few questions from Congress--
1. Why doesn't Sonia Gandhi want minorities from these countries to get citizenship?
2. Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Pandit Nehru all supported CAA, so why Sonia Gandhi is opposing?
3. The resolution was passed by Congress earlier included CAA, so are they disapproving now and misleading people?
Q - According to Congress, even if you take minorities from these three countries, they are not huge in number. They alleged that BJP is doing all this for their vote-bank?
We are not doing vote-bank politics. I have a question for Congress, even if we had to do, then answer me one thing, back in their regime when they passed the Assam Accord or the CAA, did they also did vote bank politics because they are the once who brought CAA into power.
Shouldn't we should give citizenship to the families who have left their motherland, home everything to protect his/her daughter?
The Nehru-Liaquat pact, an agreement was signed in the backdrop of large-scale migration of people belonging to minority communities between the two countries in the wake of attacks by the majority communities in their respective territories.
It was agreed that both governments would ensure the complete and equal right of citizenship and security of life and properties to their minorities.
In India, both Muslims and refugees population increased, but the population of Hindus decreased from 30% to 3% in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afganistan.
Q - People are scared as they fear that as soon as NRC will be implemented they will be in trouble as their ancestors were in India for decades and they have no documents to prove it?
Adding to this question, I have a question for Sonia Gandhi i.e., who brought the Citizenship Act. Rajiv Gandhi implemented the act, later Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh amended the Citizenship Bill. Even Muslims should ask questions from Sonia Gandhi that why did even Rajiv Gandhi implement NRC?
Our PM Modi has done a lot for Muslims. Congress just have taken political benefits from them. When 8 crore cylinders were distributed, Muslims got the maximum benefit. We never asked anyone about their religion, caste. When pakka houses were allotted, or when money was credited in farmers' bank accounts, we never asked about their religion.
We work with the ideologies of "Sabka Saath, Sabka, Vikash, Sabka Vishwas ".
Also Read: Nadda takes out BJP rally in Kolkata in support of CAA
Q - Modi in Ramlila Maidan said "NRC will only be implemented in Assam", whereas HM said it will be implemented in all the states, whom should we believe in?
The root cause of NRC is Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, why BJP should answer?
Because of the Assam Accord, NRC's question aroused. NRC was implemented by Rajiv Gandhi and later amendment was done by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. They did everything and questions are asked by us.
Q- Since, Anti-CAA protests escalate across India and BJP is in power, what went wrong that BJP is unable to make minorities understand CAA-NRC?
CAA was passed in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and as stated this bill is not stripping anyone's citizenship. I don't know why Sonia Gandhi is misleading people.
As PM said, "Muslims living in India have no reason to be scared off. "
Q - What is BJP doing to stop the protest across India?
We are informing people about NRC and CAA. This law is to grant citizenship to the persecuted communities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and not to strip anyone of their Indian citizenship.
However, some people are trying to create a division by running propaganda and provoking people, but once people will understand, they will support us.
Also Read: Rahul, Manmohan read Preamble of Constitution at anti-CAA, NRC protest at Delhi
