Mangaluru: “By implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the BJP government has fulfilled Rashtrapita Mahatma Gandhi’s dream. But the Congress party has insulted the Mahatma by opposing the Act,” said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh here on Monday, January 27.
He was addressing a mammoth rally, organised to create awareness on the CAA at Gold Finch City in Bangra Kuloor. “It was Gandhiji’s dream to provide citizenship to those minorities of Pakistan, who face religious persecution. Gandhiji had told former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to provide Indian citizenship for Pakistan’s minorities after India got independence in 1947. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh also raised this issue in the Parliament and informed about the need to provide Indian citizenship to the minorities facing harassment in Muslim countries. However, the Congress leaders are opposing the move of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government in order to appease the Muslim community,” Singh said.
Clarifying why BJP government wants to provide citizenship to the minorities of Muslim countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Rajnath said, “Even though Hindus are a majority in number in India, our country is a secular country. We treat all religions equally and there is no discrimination on the lines of caste or religion. However, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are Muslim countries and these have openly declared in their constitution that they are Muslim countries. Besides that, they are harassing Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and other minority communities. What is wrong in providing citizenship to their minorities? One should see the move of Union Government through the humanitarian perspective instead of seeing it through a political perspective.”
Meanwhile, Rajnath Singh said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has not been discussed by the Government so far. “However, the NRC will not harm any Muslims of our nation for sure. The Congress and other anti-social elements are misguiding the Muslim community by saying that the BJP government is dividing the people along the lines of religion and that the Muslims will be evicted from the country if the NRC is implemented. There is no need to worry about the NRC and the Muslim community should not fall prey to the hidden agenda of the Congress leaders. I want to tell the Muslim community that nobody can touch those Muslims who are Indian citizens. I promise that if anyone has any complaint, they can come to us. We will stand with that Muslim citizen,” he stressed.
Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, who was also at the rally, said, “After Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre, a total of 567 Muslims who came from Muslim countries over the past six years, received Indian Citizenship. However, the Opposition are blaming the Modi government, calling it an anti-Muslim government. There is no connection between the CAA and NRC.”
Dakshina Kannada district in-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said that recently, effort were made to bring people from the neighbouring state of Kerala to form mammoth gatherings to oppose the CAA. “However, we did not find the necessity to bring people from other states. People from both the Dakshina and Udipi districts have come for this rally voluntarily. One should not support stone pelters just to oppose the Central Government’s move,” he said.
MP and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel said that former ministers H D Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaia have demoralised the police through their statements during their visit to the city after the violence that broke out during anti-CAA protests in Mangaluru. “Both the leaders have misguided the Muslim community for political gain,” he added.
Udupi MP Shobha Karandlaje informed that there was no need for the Muslim community to worry about the CAA and NRC. She also briefed about the statistics of the rapid decline in Hindu population over the years in Pakistan and other Muslim countries.
“The population of Hindus in Pakistan was 15 per cent when the partition to place in 1947. But, it slipped to 1.5 per cent in 1998. In Bangladesh, the Hindu population was 22.5 per cent in 1951. But, it decreased to 9.5 per cent in 1998. The population of Hindus in Afghanistan was 7.70 lakhs in 1970, but now it has declined to 7000. It clearly shows that minorities in Muslim countries have been harassed and their numbers have declined due to murder, rape and eviction. But, there is no such situation in India. When India gained independence, the population of Hindus was 84.1 per cent and now it has slipped to 79.9 per cent. However, the population of Muslims has increased from 9.9 per cent to 14.5 per cent after India gained independence,” she said.
Over 1 lakh people from the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts participated in the programme. Most of the supporters were seen screaming slogans in favour of PM Modi and India. They were also seen holding placards supporting the CAA.
After the programme, Rajnath Singh has also visited Kateel Durgaparameshwari temple and offered prayer.
MLAs Sanjeeva Matandroor, S Angara, Rajesh Naik, Hareesh Poonja, Dr Y Bhrath Shetty, D Vedavyas Kamath, Umanath Kotian, V Sunil Kumar, Lalaji Mendon, DK Zilla Panchayat president Meenakshi Shanthigodu, vice president Kasturi Panja, Udupi Zilla Panchayat president Dinakar Babu, DK district BJP president Sudarshan M, Udupi district BJP president Mattar Rathnakar Hegde, conference state convener Ravi Kumar and others were present.
