Rajya Sabha member and former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday accused Opposition parties of “raising a hue and cry” over the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA).
“The opposition parties are mixing up issues arising from the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) to create a sense of insecurity among certain sections in order to trouble the Central government,” Mr. Prabhu said.
Addressing an awareness programme on CAA organised by the BJP here on Friday, Mr. Prabhu said a clear line should be drawn between refugees and illegal immigrants and added that it was to be noted that the Centre had no objection to grant citizenship to those who fled from neighbouring countries where they faced religious persecution and chose to make India their home.
According to the CAA, persons from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014 and who have been exempted by the Central government under Section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or relevant provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 shall not be treated as illegal immigrants.
The concerns being expressed against CAA were, therefore, misplaced, Mr. Prabhu said, and asserted that the Centre has no intention of targeting specific communities. BJP State president Kanna Lakshminarayana, vice-president T. Nagabhushanam, city president A. Sriram and RSS Prantha Sanghchalak Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Raju were among those present.
