Amit Shah On CAA: "Won't Result In Minorities Losing Their Citizenship"

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused the opposition of lying in its criticism of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying the law that has triggered deadly protests across the country does not intend to strip anyone's citizenship.

"BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party), SP (Sawajwadi Party), Communist, Congress and Mamata Didi are against the CAA because they say minorities will lose their citizenship. Why are they lying? CAA is a law to give citizenship, it is not meant to take anyone's citizenship away," Mr Shah said at a rally in Bhubaneswar.

Making religion a test of Indian nationality for the first time, the CAA promises citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Mr Shah and the BJP government at the centre have maintained that the law only intends to help those who have faced religious persecution in the neighbouring countries.

“Shouldn't they get Indian citizenship? Shouldn't their human rights be protected?” Mr Shah asked the audience.

Opposition parties allege that combined with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), the CAA can be used to target only Muslims who do not have the documents necessary to prove their citizenship.

On Friday, Mr Shah said the opposition parties were inciting riots through a misinformation campaign. “They are instigating people and fomenting riots,” he said.

The Home Minister, who controls the Delhi Police, has faced criticism and calls for resignation over the violence in Delhi that has left 42 dead and hundreds injured as protesters for and against the CAA clashed in the capital's northeast fringe since Monday.

The BJP defended Mr Shah on Friday at a news conference as Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Home Minister was “very proactive” from the very first day of the violence in his efforts to stop it.