the goan I network
PANAJI
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists and workers on Friday participated in the thousands at a massive rally in Panaji to support the Citizens (Amendment) Act, which like in other parts of the country has faced resistance from Opposition parties and civil society organisations. Friday’s rally kicked off from Patto and the State administration put its best foot forward to debar traffic on several city roads which crisscrossed the path the rally took, right up to the Azad Maidan where it culminated into a public meeting.
BJP national working president JP Nadda addressed the thousands of BJP workers along with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other BJP leaders.
Nadda, in his nearly 40-minute speech claimed the 70-80% of the beneficiaries of the legislation will be from the Dalit community and named castes such as Jathua, Rajvanshi, Meghwal among others which he said are expected to benefit from the amended law.
Nadda, meanwhile, accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of not studying the CAA. “Religion was the basis of partition and despite Nehru and Liyaqat Ali of Pakistan having signed a pact to take care of minorities in their respective countries, minorities are being persecuted in the Islamic countries. With CAA, we just want that our Hindu, Sikh, Christian and other brothers, who have been tortured but have taken refuge in our country for a long time to be part of their own country,” Nadda said.
Sawant in his speech said that those Goans who hold Portuguese passports will not be affected by the CAA. “Some people are creating fear in the minds of minorities on the issue. No one’s citizenship will be cancelled due to the CAA,” Sawant added.
The CAA has come in for sustained criticism and widespread protests are being held across the country against it, citing the discriminatory nature of the amendment which excludes Muslims from its purview.
Opposition parties say the criterion which permits fast-tracking of the granting of citizenship to people, except Muslims, from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh on grounds of being religiously persecuted there, is discriminatory on religious grounds and violates the secular nature of the Constitution.
“I feel pity for the Congress. I challenge Rahul Gandhi to speak 10 lines on CAA and two lines on why he is opposing it,” Nadda said, adding that political opponents were opposing the legislation by misleading the public.
Refuting the allegations that CAA will add to the population of India, Nadda said those people who came from other countries before December 1, 2014 and are already staying in this country are being given nationality with this Amendment.
He listed some of the major decisions such as abrogation of article 370, UAPA Act, banning triple talak, mordernisation of security forces and one-rank-one-pension scheme for soldiers of the Modi-led government to highlight the Centre’s performance.
