Radiance News
Hyderabad, Jan 4: With the Government of India reportedly going ahead with implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has warned that this will be a disaster.
He termed the law as ‘unconstitutional’ because it was made on the basis of religion.
“The CAA must be read with and understood with NPR-NRC which will lay down the conditions to prove your citizenship. If that happens, it will be a grave injustice, especially to the Muslims, Dalits and the poor of India irrespective of the caste or religion they belong to,” he told media persons.
Owaisi’s comments came amid media reports that the Central government is ready with the CAA rules and is likely to implement them much before the Lok Sabha elections.
Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that no one can stop the implementation of the CAA as it is the law of the land.
Passed in 2019, the CAA is aimed at conferring Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India till December 31, 2014. This was meant only for migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jains, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities.
Enactment of the law in early 2020 had triggered massive protests across the country. Muslim community and opposition parties had demanded rollback of the ‘discriminatory’ law. More than 100 people were killed during the protests.
Following the massive protests and the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government had kept aside the legislation and its rules were not framed. Now with the Lok Sabha elections a few months away, the BJP government has once again raked up the issue to derive electoral mileage.
Owaisi also reacted strongly to Union Minister Giriraj Singh’s statement that Ram temple is only the beginning. He demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spell out his stand on his minister’s view
“The Prime Minister should tell the country if what his minister is saying is correct and if Kashi, Mathura, Teele Wali Masjid, Sunheri Masjid and 30,000 to 35,000 mosques which are in the RSS list will be snatched,” he said.
The MP said his apprehension after the Supreme Court order in the Babri Masjid case is coming true as cases are being filed on several mosques.
He demanded the Prime Minister to spell out his stand on Places of Worship Act 1991. “Why doesn’t he say that his government will abide by the Act to end the controversies,” he asked.
He defended his statement on Babri Masjid, saying it was based on truth. “Was Babri Masjid not demolished on December 6, 1992? No one was punished for it. What would have been the court’s judgment if the mosque was not demolished,” he asked.
Defending his statements on demolition of Babri Masjid, he said he would raise December 6 as long as he is alive. “This is democracy. This is not Israel or North Korea. I have the freedom of expression,” he said.
