Those opposing Citizenship Act are anti-Dalit: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday claimed that 70% of religious minorities who will be granted citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will be Dalits.

Consequently, those opposing the law were 'anti-Dalit', said Shah as he tried to put the Opposition on the back foot over the controversial law which has ignited a firestorm of protests across the country.

Addressing a massive pro-CAA 'Maha Jana Jagruthi Samavesha' at Hubballi, part of the saffron party's counter-offensive against the law's critics, Shah also singled out the Congress for criticism, accusing the party of being "two-tongued" and for being "anti-national" in its stance.

Shah, who is also the BJP national president, said lakhs and crores of people belonging to Namasudra communities had fled to India.

"Among those who've come, 70% or more are from Dalit communities," he said. "What is the Opposition trying to prove by hindering the welfare of such communities from Bangladesh and Pakistan," he asked.

Shah claimed that the population of minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh, which was 30% each during Independence, had declined to three and seven percent, respectively. "The decline was due to mass murders, (and) forced conversion, which triggered the exodus of such minorities to India," he said.

The BJP maintains that the CAA will fast-track the citizenship process for 'persecuted' religious minorities (excluding Muslims) from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who entered India before December 2014 and are languishing in relief camps. But it has led to widespread protests across the country, forcing the BJP to launch a massive awareness campaign.

According to Shah, 150 such public meetings and a lakh smaller meetings will be held to raise awareness on the CAA.

Commenting on the protests, Shah accused the Opposition of misleading minority communities and instigating riots. "The people who are responsible for this are Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal CM) and others," he charged.

After having denied even basic rights in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, religious minorities have sought refuge in India. “Should we not given them citizenship,” Shah asked.

Assuring Muslim minorities that nobody could "steal your citizenship”, Shah said that the CAA was to provide citizenship and not to strip people of it.

Targeting the Congress, Shah said the party's stance on several issues, including the surgical strikes and the CAA, were similar to that of Pakistan.

The Home Minister said both Rahul and Pakistan PM Imran Khan wanted proof for the Indian Army's surgical and air strikes against terrorists after Uri and Pulwama attacks. Shah also pointed out that both of them opposed the abrogation of Article 370.

"I don't understand the relationship between Imran Khan and Congress," he said.

"Such statements were used against India in the UN by Imran Khan. Congress should be ashamed of its behaviour and the party is renowned for its anti-national stance," he said.

Shah further said that the Congress, in its 2018 Rajasthan election manifesto, had promised citizenship for refugees. "But now, they have misled the nation (regarding CAA) and have created fear among the Muslims here."