Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday wondered why the opposition parties were hell-bent on snatching the rights of the religious minorities in India’s neighbourhood who were set to benefit from the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
"Is humanity dead for the opposition parties? Where would the persecuted refugee Hindu families go? They are getting raped in broad daylight. They are forced into marriage and face religious conversions," Thakur told reporters here responding to questions on the opposition criticism of the CAA rules notified by the government.
"Had it not been for the Modi government, who would have saved the Sikhs and the Guru Granth Sahib from atrocities in Afghanistan," the senior BJP leader said.
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The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday notified the rules to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, that seeks to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
The Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- from the three countries.
Thakur said the people who were waiting for citizenship for 70 years will benefit from the implementation of the CAA.
The senior BJP leader said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has revealed the arrogant face of the opposition alliance.
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"Mamata Banerjee neither consulted the Congress nor attended a function convened by Rahul Gandhi. She went ahead and announced the candidates for all the 42 seats in West Bengal," Thakur said.
The minister said the Left parties also declared their candidate from Wayanad, the Lok Sabha seat represented by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
"The Congress party is already missing in Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab, the Congress is already at the receiving end from the AAP and its chief minister," he said.
