Bhopal/Raipur: Slamming anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) activist Sharjeel Imam, arrested on charges of sedition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said his speech was "more dangerous" than that of former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.
Shah also accused the Congress and other opposition parties of inciting riots and fuelling lies on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said no Indian Muslim would lose his or her citizenship due to the new law.
Speaking at an event in Raipur, Shah also said Sharjeel has been arrested by Delhi police and is being brought to the national capital to be put behind bars. "He (Sharjeel) is talking about cutting off the Chicken's Neck to disintegrate Assam from India. Even seven generations would not be able to do that," Shah said.
The Chicken's Neck is a narrow stretch of land of about 22 km in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India, with Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor.
While addressing a gathering of BJP workers in Raipur, Shah blamed the opposition of fuelling confusion and instigating riots against the CAA. He said, “I hereby publically state that no Muslim who is born in India, lived here and is an Indian citizen would lose his/her citizenship due to CAA.”
“They have equal rights as we do. This Act (CAA) has no provision to snatch anyone’s citizenship, but only grant the same to refugees,” he added.
Nationwide protests have erupted ever since the law that seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan was passed in Parliament last month.
Muslims and critics fear the CAA and proposed implementation of the National Population Register and National Population Register would have an adverse impact on the minority community.
He said former Congress president Rahul Gandhi should tell the nation which section of the CAA has the provision to snatch any Muslim’s citizenship. “They (Opposition leaders) are only trying to spread confusion and scare people,” he said.
Shah said before 2014, the country’s defence policy was only an extension of its foreign policy of peace and that led to persistent attacks. It was only after the Narendra Modi government came to power that the policy was strengthened.
Further, while stating that construction of a grand Ram temple would begin in Ayodhya in the next four months, the home minister said Chhattisgarh is the ‘nanihaal’ (maternal grandparent’s home) of Lord Ram.
He said party workers from Chhattisgarh might feel disheartened by the results of the assembly polls in 2018, but they should play a constructive role while in the opposition.
“The public mandate is to be in opposition this time and should be treated as instruction from the almighty,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Shah addressed a meeting of the Central Zonal Council in Raipur in the presence of the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Shah said the Modi government is extending support to all the states in the true spirit of the Constitution.
(With inputs from PTI)
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