'They Want To Settle Pakistanis In Our Rightful Houses': Kejriwal Attacks BJP Over CAA

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal launched a sharp attack on Centre over notifying the rules of CAA calling it as BJP's poll tactic.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre over the notification of rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. 

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said, "What is this CAA? BJP Government at the Centre says that if minorities from three countries - Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan - want to get Indian citizenship, they will be granted the same. It means that a large number of minorities will be brought to our country."

"They will be given jobs and houses will be built for them. The BJP can't provide jobs to our children but they want to give jobs to children from Pakistan," he added. 

Further attacking the BJP government, the Aam Aadmi Party national convener said, "Several of our people are homeless but BJP wants to settle people from Pakistan here. They want to give our jobs to their children. They want to settle Pakistanis in our rightful houses. The money of the Government of India that should be used for the development of our families and the country will be used for the settlement of Pakistanis."

Once India opens its doors, a lot of people will come to India from these countries. Who will provide employment to these refugees? Why is this being done? Some people say it's just a part of vote bank politics," 

Kejriwal held the press conference after the Centre notified the rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 under which Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh will be able to get Indian citizenship. 

Much commotion has been caused in the country since the Modi government notified the rules for the law with Opposition parties attacking the BJP-led Central government. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been voicing her criticism against the Act, claimed that the notified rules were "ambiguous, unconstitutional and discriminatory". 

The Congress has also targeted the Modi government over the timing of notifying the rules when the Act was passed by the Parliament in 2014.

"The fact is that it took four years and three months to promulgate these rules. The law was passed in December 2019, it was a controversial law because citizenship is never based on religion, it goes against the Constitution," said Jairam Ramesh. 

"Citizenship based on religion is not part of our constitutional principles or constitutional values. Anyway they had the brute majority and they bulldozed the law through Parliament, but why did it take four years and three months to come our with the rules," he added.  

In an attempt to allay fears by some section of Muslim community in India over non inclusion of Muslims in CAA for granting citizenship, the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday asserted that Indian Muslims need not worry about it as it will not impact their citizenship and that it has nothing to do with the community which enjoys equal rights as their Hindu counterparts.