“Come what may, we will not give citizenship to Muslims from the Islamic republics of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan,” declared P. Muralidhar Rao, national general secretary of the BJP, in the city on Saturday.
He was responding to criticism of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, that it links citizenship to religion. Mr. Rao said the partition of colonial India took place on religious lines and millions of Muslims decided to stay in Pakistan. “Now to demand citizenship to those Muslims is illogical and irrational,” he said.
He maintained that Muslims were not persecuted on religious lines there and termed the CAA a “humanitarian” measure to help religious persecuted minorities in these countries.
He launched an outreach campaign with an aim to reach 30 lakh households in the State, where BJP workers will go door to door explaining the party’s stand on the CAA.
