The home minister made the statement in West Bengal while addressing Matua community, the Hindu migrants from Bangladesh
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the government was determined to implement Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the refugees from neighbouring countries will start getting citizenship as soon as the Covid-19 vaccination drive ends. He made the statement in West Bengal on Thursday.
Shah also tried to allay the fears of Indian minorities by claiming that the CAA implementation will not impact their citizenship status.
The home minister was addressing a public meeting at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district, which is dominated by the Matua community. Originally from East Pakistan, the Matuas are a weaker section of Hindus who migrated to India during the Partition and after the creation of Bangladesh. Many of them have been accorded Indian citizenship but a sizable section of them are yet to get it.
A Scheduled Caste group, the community has presence in at least 42 Assembly seats spread across North 24 Parganas, Nadia districts and in some parts of north Bengal.
He reminded his audience of the promise made in 2018 by the the Narendra Modi-led government that it will bring in a new citizenship law for the refugees. “We kept the promise after the BJP was voted to power in 2019 and brought in the Citizenship Amendment Act. However, it could not be implemented as the country was hit by the pandemic in 2020,” Shah said.
“I want to assure the minority community of this country that the CAA will not impact their citizenship status. The CAA has been brought in to grant citizenship to refugees and not to take away citizenship from anyone. The Opposition are misleading the people regarding the CAA,” said Shah.
Shah announced that once a BJP government is formed in West Bengal, it would change the name of Thakurnagar railway station to Shri Dham Railway Station.
Earlier in the day, Shah flagged off a Parivartan Yatra of the BJP from Cooch Behar. Addressing a rally there, he branded the Chief Minister as a “failed administrator” and said the upcoming assembly elections in the state will be a contest between Narendra Modi’s “development model” and Banerjee’s “destruction model”.
– With input from agencies
