Afghanistan | 'Make Changes to CAA': Harsimrat Badal's Appeal to Prime Minister

Badal asked for changes to the CAA to facilitate the rehabilitation of Sikh and Hindu returnees from Afghanistan.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

(Photo: IANS)

Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, 25 August, to make changes to the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) in order to facilitate the rehabilitation on priority of “Sikh and Hindu brethren” rescued from “certain death in Afghanistan”.

Highlighting the Afghanistan crisis that is now under the Taliban's control, Badal said in a tweet, “We fear not just the loss of human lives but also desecration of shrines & a number of rare handwritten copies of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Appeal to Dr S Jaishankar and Ministry of External Affairs to ensure that along with Hindu/Sikh brethren, holy books too are brought home safely with full dignity.”

Badal wrote in another tweet, “Not only must we rescue our Sikh and Hindu brethren from certain death in Afghanistan, it's imperative we provide them a safe haven and home here, for this is their own land. I urge PM @narendramodi & HM @AmitShah to make changes in CAA and facilitate their rehabilitation on priority."

Meanwhile, Akali Dal's Manjinder Singh Sirsa also made the same appeal, asking the Government of India (GoI) and Shah to grant citizenship to those who have taken refuge in India.

Along with a letter to GoI, Sirsa said in tweet, "Requesting @AmitShah ji & Govt of India for necc amendments in CAA to cover Sikhs + Hindus of Afghanistan who have taken refuge in 2020 & 2021. India has taken a humanitarian step by supporting minorities of Afghanistan & it would be great to help them by granting Indian citizenship (sic)."

This comes days after Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri supported the contentious law, saying in a tweet, "Recent developments in our volatile neighbourhood & the way Sikhs & Hindus are going through a harrowing time are precisely why it was necessary to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act (sic).”

The Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA, which was passed in December 2019 for citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan saw massive protests all over the country, which resulted in the Delhi riots in February last year.

On 24 August, Puri had tweeted a video of him carrying one of the copies of Guru Granth Sahib flown to India from Kabul.

Meanwhile, India has been carrying out evacuation efforts for more than a week as Indians flee the war-torn country.