Amit Shah schools Mamata, Owaisi, Rahul for calling CAA anti-Muslim: ‘Should explain reason for opposing’. 10 top quotes

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured the Muslim community that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will not take away their rights and further slammed Rahul Gandhi, Asaduddin Owaisi and Mamata Banerjee for their claims that the law was anti-Muslim. ‘The law can't be seen in isolation as it carries a history with itself’. 

Here are the top 10 quotes: 

• "I said this nearly 41 times in recent times that the minorities in India need not worry as there is no provision to take away anyone's citizenship. It only guarantees citizenship for persecuted minorities of Hindu, Skih, BUdhist, Christian and Parsi denominations," he assured the Muslim community once again.
• "This is not a political game for the Bharatiya Janata Party. For our leader PM Modi ji and our government, it is our duty to give adequate rights to those persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who were living like refugees in India. It is a question of giving them rights that have eluded them for three generations and empathising with their pain"
• Urging people not to ‘view CAA in isolation’, he said, "On August 15, 1947 the country was divided into three parts. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh and the BJP always opposed partition on the basis of religion. And those who were minorities in those countries became victims of severe oppression. They were forced to convert, their women were assaulted and because of that they came to seek refuge in India. Are these people not eligible for Indian citizenship."
• “At the time of partition, the leaders of the Congress said that people should not leave their places as there was violence and later they will be given citizenship in India. Now the Congress has forgotten that for its vote bank politics”
• "I request you to interview Rahul Gandhi about the issue in detail and explain his reason for opposing the CAA to the general public. In politics, it's your responsibility to justify your decisions. If the CAA is a decision by my government, I have to explain my party's position, the government's decision and why it is in favour of the nation. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi should explain his opposition to the legislation."
• "Those people who were living in undivided Indian and then underwent persecution for following their faith we must offer them citizenship. It is our moral duty. You can look at the statistics and see the drop in the Hindu population in Pakistan since independence." the Home Minister said.
• “These people were persecuted, so where should they go, should not the political parties think about that. In Afghansistan there ar only about 500 or so Hinus left, don't these people have a right live with their beliefs. They were all our brothers in undiveded India,” he added
• Further slamming the opposition, he said, "The opposition has no other work than to criticise us" 
• "All opposition parties including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata or 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" the Home Minister said.
• On Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray's allegations of CAA  being implemented to hide the failure of the BJP government, Shah said, "I want a clear clarification from Uddhav Thackeray in front of the people of the nation and Maharashtra, whether he wants CAA or not. Now he wants the votes of minorities that is why he is doing politics of appeasement and we are not. Our stand is clear from day one"
• (With ANI inputs)