CAB: After scoring on Kashmir, Amit Shah plays the Hindutva striker again.

Akhilesh Singh | TNN | New Delhi | Dec 10, 2019:: As Lok Sabha debated the Citizenship Amendment Bill  on Monday, a combative home minister Amit Shah rebutted the charge that the legislation was violative of the Constitution and said the bill was anti-infiltrator and not against Muslim.

Responding to the opposition’s charge that the bill excluded Muslims while granting citizenship on the ground of religious persecution to six minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Shah asserted that provisions of the legislation were in accord with “reasonable classification” under the Constitution.

He said that minority populations from these nations were left without a homeland and with no benefits associated with citizenship. “Those saying that the bill is in violation of Article 14 have probably not read carefully the work done by their own parties. All those who came to India after 1947 were accorded citizenship, including Manmohan Singh and L K Advani,” he said.

“In 1971, Dandakaranya project accorded citizenship to those who migrated from Bangladesh. Even Indians displaced from Uganda were given citizenship and these legislations were done on the basis of reasonable classification of Article 14, which is being done now for people who migrated due to persecution on basis of religion,” he said.

Read also: Sri Lankan group wants Citizenship Bill to include Tamil Hindus.

It was yet another aggressive performance by Shah on a theme crucial to the Hindutva agenda and will further strengthen his credentials as the Sangh Parivar’s points man on important issues. Not averse to attacking his opponents for vote bank politics, Shah’s image as being unsentimental and ideologically driven was solidified with the CAB after he piloted the rescinding of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in the last session.

Justifying CAB, Shah referred to the Afghanistan border and said the country shared 106 km of border with India, which was questioned by some opposition MPs. “Main desh ke bhoogol ko janta hoon… main yahin ka rehne wala hoon (I belong to this country and know its geography well),” Shah said and added it was ironic that the opposition didn’t count Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir as part of India.

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News Courtesy: TOI & HT | Pic. Courtesy: Partha Roy.

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