Hindus, Muslims of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are Indians: Amit Shah

New Delhi: Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is part of India and its people irrespective of their religion are Indians, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday.

He also strongly defended the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 and said the law was enacted to provide Indian nationality to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"PoK is part of India. The people of PoK are also Indians - be it Hindu or Muslim. Both Hindus and Muslims of PoK are our own," he said at an interaction at the India Today Conclave.

On the CAA, Shah said the law was passed in 2019 and the rules were issued now as he sought to dismissed criticism over its timing.

He said those opposing the CAA claiming it is based on region are the same people who support laws such as the Muslim Personal Law.

The home minister recalled that during the Partition, Congress leaders, including first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had said that the minorities from Pakistan would be welcomed in India.

He said the Hindu population in Pakistan reduced from 23 per cent at the time of the Partition to two per cent now, in Bangladesh, the number of Hindus decreased from 22 per cent to 10 per cent and in Afghanistan the number of Sikhs reduced from two lakh to just 378.

"We fulfilled the promise made by the Congress leaders," he said.

Asked about the exclusion of Muslims from the purview of CAA, which will provide citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi refugees from the three countries, the home minister said all three nations are declared Islamic state and Muslims cannot face persecution there.

"No one will lose citizenship because of CAA. I would ask Muslim brothers and sisters not to listen to the opposition. The opposition is merely doing politics with you again," he said.

Asked about National Register of Citizens (NRC), he said he would talk about it after the elections.

On Rahul Gandhi's often-repeated statement of OBC welfare, Shah said the prime minister himself is an OBC, but Rahul Gandhi cannot see it.

"There are 27 OBC ministers in the Union cabinet, but they can't see it. Rahul Gandhi does not know what he is saying," Shah said.

On West Bengal, the home minister said the BJP will win more than 25 seats out of the 42.

He accused the Mamata Banerjee-led government of indulging in appeasement politics in West Bengal.

"When a state is run based on appeasement and vote-bank politics, neither law and order can be maintained nor development can happen. State-sponsored infiltration is being done for the vote bank," he claimed.