Rise above politics; learn ground reality in Afghanistan: Hardeep Puri to Owaisi on CAA

People who were opposing CAA when it was enacted in 2019 are now demanding to extend the cut-off date, said Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, reiterating the 'necessity' to enact the controversial legislation.

Addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, Puri informed that a total of 626 people including 228 Indians have been evacuated from Afghanistan, since the Taliban crisis. The number of Afghan Sikhs who have been evacuated to date is 77, he said. The Minister personally welcomed the evacuees who landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday morning. 

Puri said these persecuted Afghans will always have a home in India after the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). "The same people who were opposing CAA legislation when it was enacted are demanding to adjust the cut-off date today," he said. 

Earlier in the day, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manjinder S Sirsa requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to amend the CAA and extend its cut-off date from 2014 to 2021 in wake of the Taliban crisis in Afghanistan.

Hardeep Puri, Owaisi engage in CAA debate

The Union Minister also reacted to AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi's remark countering his CAA argument. Puri said Owaisi made a political statement about the legislation, whereas he was talking about the ground reality in Afghanistan. Puri called on Owaisi and other leaders to refrain from taking a 'narrow political partisan position' on the matter, in light of the evolving situation in the neighbouring country.

"Owaisi made a political statement on CAA. What I am telling you to is the ground reality. You should see the sentiment of the Sikh and Hindu community and refrain from playing politics on such matters. India's political leadership led by PM Modi is aware of the ground situation in Kabul," he said. 

On Monday, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi countered Puri's  'necessary to enact CAA' comment, by pointing out that the law is just confined to undocumented immigrants who entered India before 2014, and that it would not help those entering the country now with proper visas.

"I’d demanded a religion-neutral law that would have actually helped these refugees, but that was too much for this religion-obsessed sarkar. Such a law would have not only helped these minorities but also those Afghans who were working with us in our 4 consulates and embassy," Owaisi said in a tweet. 
    
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act amends the previous Citizenship Act 1955 to make refugees who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship. Union Minister Hardeep Singh on Sunday asserted that the current situation is "a perfect example of enacting the CAA in the country".