CAA will not snatch citizenship, Indian Muslims need not worry: Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on March 20 assured minorities that the Citizenship Amendment Act is not meant to snatch citizenship. Accusing the opposition of spreading misinformation on the new law, Shah said that CAA aims to grant citizenship and not take it away.

"We are in a democratic country. There is a misconception being spread about CAA for the purpose of vote bank," Shah said at the 'News18 Rising Bharat Summit' in New Delhi.

He also added that Muslims in India do not need to worry about CAA.

The government on March 12 issued a notification for the Citizenship Amendment Act, under which non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan fleeing religious persecution can seek Indian citizenship.

Persons from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from these countries who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, can seek citizenship under CAA.

While speaking at the Summit, Amit Shah also stated that the CAA does not contain anything related to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

He further shed light on the 10-year tenure of the Modi government and said it will be remembered as a golden era in Indian history.

Shah said that all Indians are now being respected and the government has provided them with benefits such as gas, electricity, water, and healthcare. He also mentioned that the mood was in favour of the BJP even before the Balakot incident.

Additionally, Amit Shah pointed out that in the last ten years, India has become the fifth largest economy under the leadership of Modi and added that in the next term under Modi, India will become the third largest economy in the world.

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