CAA row: ‘Open challenge to debate…,’ TMC, Congress, AAP react to Amit Shah's claim

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday slammed opposition leaders Asaduddin Owaisi and Mamata Banerjee for claiming that Citizenship (Amendment) Act was anti-Muslim. He also urged them to explain the reason for opposing the law and cited, ‘the law can't be seen in isolation.’

Reacting to his comments, several opposition parties challenged the BJP for a One-on-One debate.

What Amit Shah said on CAA?

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," the Union Home Minister assured the Muslim community once again.

Noting that the opposition has no other work than to criticise BJP, Shah said, “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).”

Further naming Rahul Gandhi, he said, “I request you to interview Rahul Gandhi about the issue in detail and explain his reason for opposing the CAA to the general public.”

About Mamata Banerjee, he said, “TMC has a problem with minorities but not with the intruders who commit atrocities on people. It is all a part of their vote bank politics.”

How opposition reacted to Amit Shah's comments?

On March 11, the Union Home Ministry notified rules for the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled.

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