The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that those States that are adopting resolutions not to implement CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) are creating a constitutional blunder.

Addressing a public rally to create awareness on CAA in Mangaluru on Monday, Singh urged such States not to commit such a ‘mistake’. “That will be a constitutional blunder,” he said.

It may be mentioned here that some States, including Kerala, had adopted a resolution in their respective Assemblies not to implement CAA in their States. He said that Mahatma Gandhi had asked the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to grant citizenship to the religious minorities coming from countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The present government is fulfilling that wish of Mahatma Gandhi, he said.

Slams Opposition

The Opposition is stating that Muslims from those countries are not given citizenship under this Act. He said Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are theocratic States representing Islam. In such a case, they won’t be affected in those countries.

India, which respects all religions, is a secular country. He said India is the only country in the world where all the 72 sects of Islam can be seen. Stating that there is an effort to create divisions among Hindu and Muslims in the country, he urged the BJP workers to approach Muslim brothers and sisters and tell them that they won’t be affected by CAA. Referring various welfare schemes implemented by the Modi government, he said the government did not differentiate among any religions when implementing them.

Urging the Opposition not to divide the country in the name of religion, he assured the Muslims of the country that BJP will stand by them, if anyone wants to create trouble for them. There is no question of snatching away the citizenship of 130 crore people of India, he said.

He said the Modi government has given citizenship to more than 600 Muslims, including the Bollywood singer Adnan Sami, from other countries in the last six years.

NPR & NRC

On NPR (National Population Register), he said it was started in 2010 during the tenure of UPA government. If someone does not want to tell something, such a person won’t be forced to reveal the details under this. He wondered why the BJP is being targeted now for NPR.

On NRC (National Register of Citizens), he said the Prime Minister has already made it clear that no discussion has been done on this till now. Some elements want to create a sense of fear among Muslims with NRC, he said.

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