Former Minister A.H. Vishwanath on Thursday defended the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, but acknowledged the need for a “healing touch” to the Muslim community, which is gripped by anxiety over the piece of legislation.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Vishwanath described the Act as a piece of legislation which had been continuing since the time of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
He said the citizenship law was an important piece of legislation for the country which had bestowed Indian citizenship to even people like Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the CAA had been misused by some for their political gains, leading to a lot of anxiety among the Muslim community.
Instead of arousing the sentiments of the Muslim community, there was a need to provide them a “healing touch”, he said and called upon the intellectuals including the teaching faculty in universities to accurately convey the content and purpose of CAA.
Mr. Vishwanath said there was a need for the leaders of the Muslim community to restrain themselves from acting impulsively and make the anxious community understand that the citizenship law was not against their interests.
He appealed to former Chief Ministers H.D. Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah to stop ‘misleading’ the people on the Act and ensure peace is maintained in the State.
Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing the issue and trying to convince the people of “democratic India”, the Opposition parties are misleading the public and “stage-managing” the protests, he said cited the violence in Mangaluru as an example.
Mr .Vishwanath also felt that the Centre should also convene an all-party meeting without losing much time. The Prime Minister should convene an all-party meeting and address the ticklish issues and end the prevailing confusion in the country.
When asked whether the BJP had failed to convince the Muslims about the citizenship law before bringing in the law, Mr. Vishwanath said earlier proposed laws were thrown open for public debate before their introduction in the legislature. But, he regretted that it was not happening any more.
