Addressing a rally in West Bengal's predominantly Matua town Thakurnagar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday, 11 February that the process of granting citizenship under the extremely contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will begin as soon as the COVID-19 vaccination process concludes.
“As soon as the vaccination drive will conclude and we become corona-free, the work of providing citizenship will be undertaken. CAA is Parliament's law, how can you stop it? Also, you will not be in a position to stop it,” news agency ANI quoted Shah as saying.
The Home Minister also expressed that the CAA implementation process will benefit the Matua community, which is a section of Hindus from erstwhile East Pakistan, as well as other non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan before 2015, NDTV reported.
He accused the opposition parties of misleading the minorities about the citizenship law, and said its implementation will not impact the citizenship status of Indian minorities.
"Mamata didi said we made a false promise. She started opposing the CAA and saying she will never allow it. The BJP always fulfils the promises it makes. We have brought this law and refugees will get citizenship," he said.
The Home minster also added that the TMC leader will not be in a position to oppose the implementation of the law, as she will cease to be West Bengal’s Chief Minister after polls.
He further informed that the implementation of the law had to be kept in abeyance due to the COVID-19 health crisis.
The citizenship law had triggered widespread protests in 2019, as many protesting lawyers, academics, intellectuals and artists among others feared that as the planned nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) comes into effect, the CAA would result in lakhs of Muslims losing their citizenship.
What Amit Shah Said
Speaking at the India Today Conclave East, Shah seemed to hold a contradictory stance on the implementation of CAA NRC in the country.
“There are some fundamental principles of a party that are based on Nationalistic stance. We might get loss or benefit but I think BJP should stick to its fundamental principles,” Shah said, when asked whether CAA NRC can cause any harm to Assam.
When asked about the implementation of CAA NRC, Shah said, “I never said CAA NRC will start after COVID vaccinations. I said it was delayed due to COVID vaccination.”
In what seems to be a contradiction to his earlier statement, in the last concluding segment of the talk, Shah said, “Once we get free from all these things (COVID), the rules will be made. As soon as the rules are made, they will be implemented.”
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and NDTV)
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