NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday assured Muslims living in India that they will not lose citizenship due to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He accused the opposition parties of creating confusion in the community about CAA.
"The BJP does not engage in politics on the basis of caste, creed and religion but stands for nation-building," he said at an election rally in support of BJP Lok Sabha candidate Atul Garg in Ghaziabad.
Emphasizing that the saffron party believes in the concept of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', Rajnath said, "The opposition is trying to create this illusion among our Muslim brothers that they will now be thrown out of the country. I want to tell my Muslim brothers that we believe in the concept of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', i.e. the world is one family. No matter what caste or creed one is born in or a follower of any religion or sect, we consider everyone as a member of our family".
"Sisters and brothers, anyone who is a Muslim living in India is not going to lose their citizenship. This kind of confusion is being created by our opponents. You can go and tell our Muslim sisters and brothers about this," the BJP leader told the gathering.
The rules for the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, were notified in March 2024, four years after the contentious law was passed by the Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
Taking a dig at the Congress, the Union minister said that workers of the grand old party would often say that BJP is poking its nose into other religions.
"Congress workers would say to us why we are poking our nose into other religions. Whether it's the women of Hindu community, or Muslim, Christian, Parsi, we look at everyone with respect," he added.
Rajnath also reminded the gathering that BJP has delivered on what it promised in its manifestos since the days when the party was known as Jana Sangh, whether it was the issue of Ram temple in Ayodhya or abolishing triple talaq.
"I only want to say one thing for the BJP, we do what we promise. I want to remind you that when we worked as Jana Sangh, we had then said in our manifesto that the day we get a clear majority in Parliament, then no power in the world would be able to stop us from making a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. This was part of our manifesto 1984 onwards," he said.
"We had talked about abolishing triple talaq and we did it. One may like it or not, but we won't accept that any person can instantly abandon his wife of any creed or belief after marriage just by uttering talaq thrice. There are people who do politics on the basis of humanity ... We have tremendous respect for all the religions in India. Be it a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Parsi, we respect everyone," Rajnath added.
Ghaziabad, which goes to polls in the 2nd phase on April 26, has over 29 lakh registered voters.
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