Union Minister Nitin Gadkari defends CAA, blames Cong's "misinformation campaign"

Addressing a rally in Nagpur on Sunday, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launched a vociferous defence of the Citizenship Amendment Act. He clarified that the legislation was not against any Indian citizen. He asserted that the CAA pertained to granting citizenship to persecuted religious minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Alleging that Congress believed in vote bank politics, he called upon the people to reject the “misinformation campaign” of the Congress.

Gadkari cited the example of singer Adnan Sami who became an Indian citizen despite hailing from Pakistan. Furthermore, the Union Minister stated that the Narendra Modi-led government had never discriminated against any citizen based on religion.  

Read: P Chidambaram Praises Resilience Of Students, Questions Centre On Jamia Violence

Read: Prashant Kishor Outlines Future Course Of Action To Stop Implementation Of CAA & NRC

The Citizenship Amendment Act

The CAA seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants. Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 5 years. Even as the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay on the CAA, there have been nationwide protests against the implementation of this legislation. 

Read: Mayawati Accsues Bhim Army Chief Azad Of Vote Bank Politics Amid Anti-CAA Protests

Government releases FAQs to dispel fears

On Friday, the Centre released a list of FAQs to dispel fears about the combined effect of  CAA and the National Register of Citizens. It included 13 questions and answers in total. It has been asserted that no Indian belonging to any religion should worry about the NRC. Moreover, it has been mentioned that the standard of proof for citizenship will be different from the NRC process in Assam. Also, the FAQs give an assurance that the NRC would not discriminate against atheists, transgender community and so forth.

Read: Sanjay Raut Tweets Cryptic Phrase To Corner Centre Amid Sena's Unclear Stand On CAA