Businessman Girish Kadel was facing offence under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with with Section 108 of the Customs Act

Stressing that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not against Muslims, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has accused the Opposition parties of resorting to “politics of lies”. “I have spoken on CAA at least 41 times on different platforms and spoken in detail that the minorities of the country need not be afraid because it has no provision to take back the rights of any citizen,” Mr Shah told news agency ANI in an interview.

The CAA, he said, aims to give citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

Muslims, he said, have the right to apply for citizenship in India as per the rules of the Constitution, but this law is meant for persecuted minorities from these countries.

Asked if the government may rethink its decision to implement the CAA if protests begin, Mr Shah said, “CAA will never be rolled back.”

The Home Minister tore into the Opposition for targeting its decision to implement the law. Asked about a Congress leader’s remark stating that they would roll back CAA when they come to power, he said, “Even INDI alliance knows that it will not come to power. CAA has been brought by the BJP, and the Narendra Modi-led government has brought it. It is impossible to repeal it. We will spread awareness across the nation so that those who want to repeal it do not get a place,” Mr Shah said.

He dismissed the criticism that CAA is “unconstitutional”. “This law does not violate Article 14. There is a clear, reasonable classification here. This is a law for those who, due to partition, remained in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and were facing religious persecution and decided to come to India,” the Union Minister said.

Countering the Opposition’s attack on the timing of implementing the law, he said, “All Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee or Arvind Kejriwal, are indulging in jhooth ki rajneeti (politics of lies), so the question of timing does not arise. BJP made it clear in its 2019 manifesto that it will bring CAA and provide Indian citizenship to refugees (from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan). BJP has a clear agenda and under that promise, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in both houses of Parliament in 2019. It got delayed due to Covid. BJP had cleared its agenda well before the party got its mandate in the polls.”

Mr Shah said notifying the rules was a formality, so there is no question of timing or political gain or loss. “Now, the Opposition wants to consolidate their vote bank by doing appeasement politics,” he said.

The Home Minister said the Opposition had raised questions on 2016 surgical strikes and the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. “So should we not take stern steps against terrorism? We have been saying since 1950 that we will withdraw Article 370,” he said.

“You cannot see this law in isolation. On August 15, 1947, our country was partitioned into three parts. This is the background. Bharatiya Jan Sangh and BJP were always against the Partition. We never wanted the country to be partitioned based on religion,” he said. “So when the country was partitioned on the basis of religion, minorities faced persecution, they were being converted, women in the minority section were being tortured and came to India. They came to our refuge; don’t they have a right to get our citizenship? Even Congress leaders during the partition in their speeches said that those minorities should stay wherever they are due to the widespread bloodshed and they will be welcomed later in our country. Then they started doing vote bank politics for appeasement,” he said.

Hitting back at the Trinamool Congress chief, who has alleged that the citizenship of minorities would be taken away through CAA, Mr Shah said, “I am requesting Mamata ji, there are several platforms to do politics, but please don’t harm Bengali Hindus coming from Bangladesh. I challenge her publicly to show one such clause that has the provision of taking away the citizenship of any Indian. Her intention is to create differences between Hindus and Muslims to consolidate vote bank,” Mr Shah said.

Home Minister Amit Shah today said that the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA currently does not have a provision for non-Muslim migrants who do not possess the required documents, but said the government will soon work on a way out for such refugees. The Centre on Monday notified the CAA to reduce the qualification period of application for citizenship from 11 to 5 years for persecuted migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.

Anyone applying for Indian citizenship under the scheme will need to furnish two documents – one to prove they came from the eligible countries, and another to establish that they entered India before December 31, 2014.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Amit Shah said according to government estimates 85% of the people in India who are seeking to apply under the scheme have the required documents. But the government will soon find an alternative for those who do not have any documents, he asserted.

“We will find a way for those who do not have documents but those who have the documents constitute more than 85%. There is no time limit,” Mr Shah told ANI.

“One can take time to apply, the Government of India will call you for an interview as per the time available to you. The government will call you for the audit of the document and a face-to-face interview will be done,” he said when asked about how the process will work.

#WATCH | On the CAA notification and its provisions, Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, “..Even Muslims have the right to apply for citizenship…The doors have not been closed for anyone…”

“…Even Muslims have the right to apply for citizenship…The doors have not been… pic.twitter.com/SHP9LU76VB

— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2024

Protests have erupted in several parts of the country against the decision to implement CAA as some fear the law could be used to declare them illegal immigrants and take away their Indian citizenship.

Amit Shah strongly denies this and says the law is needed to help minorities facing persecution in Muslim-majority nations. The BJP leader also said that the constitution allows people from all religions and communities to seek Indian citizenship.

“Even Muslims have the right to apply for citizenship. The doors have not been closed for anyone,” the Home Minister said.  

Replying to the Opposition’s claim of the timing of bringing notification of CAA before the Lok Sabha elections, Amit Shah said there is “no question of political gain” as the main aim of the BJP is to provide rights and justice to persecuted minorities coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

“All opposition parties including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee or Arvind Kejriwal are indulging in jhooth ki rajneeti (politics of lies) so the question of timing does not arise. BJP has made it clear in its 2019 manifesto that it will bring CAA and provide Indian citizenship to refugees (from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan). BJP has a clear agenda and under that promise, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in both houses of Parliament in 2019. It got delayed due to Covid. BJP had cleared its agenda well before the party got its mandate in the polls,” he said.