BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao on Monday charged the Opposition parties with hypocrisy, saying they had earlier supported citizenship for minorities who are persecuted in neighbouring countries earlier but opposed the same today.
Rao was in Bengaluru to take part in a workshop and training session on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), organised by the BJP for the southern region.
BJP national vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe stated that the workshop was being held across the country to create awareness about the new Act and to counter the false propaganda about the Act by the opposition parties.
"CAB was a part of the freedom movement, which had certain unfinished aspects like the implementation of the Nehru-Liaqat Ali pact that guarantees security to all minorities. Since Pakistan did not keep its word and minorities were persecuted, it became necessary for India to enact amendments to its existing citizenship act and that task has now been completed," explained Sahasrabuddhe, adding that the Act was meant to widen the scope of citizenship of India by including more people and not to exclude anybody.
Alleging that there are forces inimical to India's unity, Sahasrabuddhe said, "They are wantonly spreading misinformation, creating fear psychosis for their own selfish political interests. We condemn it. The only way to counter them is to create greater awareness about the new act. We will hold campaigns to tell people how the Act will help all persecuted minorities in the three Islamic countries —Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. This campaign will silence the doubting Thomases and lead to social and emotional integration of India."
Rao said the opposition was creating fear psychosis among Muslims in India.
"This bill is for those who migrated from outside. It is about giving justice to the minorities. We will expose the false propaganda of the opposition parties."
Rao dubbed the statements of the Congress, Communist and TMC parties today as a classic case of hypocrisy.
Rao referred to Manmohan Singh's statement as leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha in 2003, quoting Singh as saying that "minorities in countries like Bangladesh are facing persecution. And it is our moral obligation to grant citizenship in a more liberal manner".
Rao then asked, "Today, has the Congress Party put an embargo on Singh not to speak? Is Manmohan Singh communal too? Tarun Gogoi, as CM of Assam, had written (on April 20, 2004) to then prime minister Manmohan Singh drawing attention to the plight of minorities. Now, Rahul Gandhi [is] giving it a twist. Why this change of heart now?"
The Citizenship Amendment Bill of 2003 to which Singh was responding to at the time, however, concerned the eligibility of a person to become an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and the definition of an illegal immigrant, with no provision of citizenship for refugees. Unlike the CAA of 2019, it had no mention of religion. Singh's statement at the time also did not specify religion as a limiting factor for citizenship.
Rao also slammed the Kerala government's call for a protest against CAA. "In Kerala, will the ruling CPM protest against [Prakash] Karat as he too had written to the previous PM to act and give citizenship to minorities in Bangladesh. Both CPM in Kozhikode and CPI in 1958 had passed a resolution to give citizenship to all those persecuted," said Rao.
Rao alleged that the Congress has a coalition of interest with political parties in Pakistan, saying that Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf party and the Congress in India are speaking the same language,
"CAA is what Nehru, Patel and Gandhi wanted. We have shown the political will to implement it," said Rao, adding that BJP always had it in its poll manifestos and now had the people's mandate to implement it.
Stating that there has been a drastic decline in the number of minorities in these three countries, Rao asked if that was not a "demographic assault" on the minorities in those countries.
"Why is the opposition indulging in opportunism? There is concerted effort to indulge in fear-mongering to consolidate their vote bank," he alleged.
On some of the State governments refusing to implement the CAA, Rao said it was political posturing. "Whatever the Parliament legislates on citizenship, the states have no choice to accept or reject. Many leaders including the new entrant to the pseudo-secular brigade, Uddhav Thackeray, should declare that they will not abide by the Constitution nor follow what is legislated in the Parliament," dared Rao.
On the violence that has broken out across some states, Rao said he could not agree more with the Chief Justice of India who said it was the duty and mandate of the police to maintain law and order.
