Union Home Minister Amit Shah hands over the citizenship certificate under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, (CAA) to a beneficiary during a programme, in Ahmedabad, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Ahmedabad: Vehemently justifying the CAA, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday alleged that due to the "appeasement policies" of Congress governments and its alliance partners, refugees "suffered injustice" from 1947 to 2014.
Shah made the remarks while addressing a 'Citizenship Certificate Distribution' event at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Auditorium in Ahmedabad. He gave away citizenship certificates to 188 Hindu refugee families, including 90 from Ahmedabad, 36 from Morbi, 20 from Surendranagar, 18 from Patan, 10 from Mehsana, six from Rajkot, three each from Kutch and Vadodara and two from Anand district.
"This is a very emotional moment for a social worker like me. This is not merely an event for giving citizenship under CAA, but for giving rights and justice to lakhs of refugees who have been living in this country. In the past, because of the appeasement policies of governments run by Congress and its allies, those who came seeking refuge did not get citizenship from 1947 to 2014. They didn't get justice either," Shah said justifying the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
"They (refugees) were not just tortured in neighbouring countries for being Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh, but also in our own country as three generations of people waited for justice. The policy Congress and allies didn't give justice to them, but BJP leader Narendra Modi did," Shah said.
The Union minister further explained why the CAA was brought in. "...No country in the world was partitioned on religious lines. India was divided on the basis of religion which was followed by horrendous riots. Crores of Indians can't forget how Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs were subjected to torture. It forced even the rich people to become vegetable vendors in cities like Bhuj," Shah said.
Shah claimed that after Partition, Congress leaders had promised to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs seeking shelter in the country but as elections neared they looked away and forgot the promises of Nehru (Jawaharlal Nehru) and Mahatma Gandhi.
"This law (CAA) was implemented in 2019 and since then everyone had been misled that it would lead to injustice to Muslims as it strips them of their citizenship. I want to say it clearly to Muslim brothers and sisters that the law doesn't have any provision to take away citizenship. It is the other way round" Shah said while adding that "why citizenship is being given today in 2024 while the law came into being back in 2019 because there was rioting in the country as people from minority communities were misled".
Shah further said at the time of Partition, Bangladesh had 27 per cent Hindus but only 9 per cent are left. "Where have the rest gone? They were either subjected to forced religious conversion, or came here seeking shelter. Don't they have the right to live as per their religion? If they cannot live with respect in the neighbouring country and seek refuge in our country, what should we do? We cannot sit as silent spectators. This is the Narendra Modi government and you will get justice for sure," Shah said while appealing to refugees from across the country to seek citizenship without any hesitation.