'Citizenship Amendment Bill Won't Harm Minorities Including Muslims': Amit Shah In Rajya Sabha

Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that India can never be 'Muslim-mukt' (free from Muslims) while replying to a debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

The Home Minister further said that the proposed legislation is not against the interest of Muslims. (Image: ANI)

New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that India can never be 'Muslim-mukt' (free from Muslims) while replying to a debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha. "Javed Ali Khan (Samajwadi Party leader) said that we will become 'Muslim-mukt'. Javed Ali Sahab, this country will not be free from Muslims even if you want it to be," said Shah. Replying to a statement of Congress MP Kapil Sibal, Shah said that Muslims should not fear the Bill as it does not strip them of their citizenship. "Kapil Sibalji said that Muslims are not scared of us. They should not be scared and you do not make them scared. No one is going to snatch Indian Muslims' citizenship," he said, adding that the Bill is for giving citizenship and for not taking it away. The Home Minister further said that the proposed legislation is not against the interest of Muslims. "How can the CAB be anti-Muslim? In this Bill, there is no proposal to touch the citizenship of any Muslim," he said. He said that the Bill has been brought to rectify a historic blunder -- the partition -- and give a dignified life to non-Muslims of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who fled religious persecution and settled in India before December 31, 2014. Shah said that the need to bring the Bill goes back to the partition and Pakistan's failure to protect its minorities. "Despite Kapil Sibal and Anand Sharma's insistence, I would once again say that the partition happened on the basis of religion. It was a blunder, which forced me to introduce this Bill," he said. Shah said: "There would have been no need to introduce this Bill. This Bill is to address the problem created by the partition. Also, if any government would have solved the problem, there would have been no need for this Bill." Shah also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP government is not there to only run the country but also to set things right. Replying to Congress MPs P Chidambaram, Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal's concerns, Shah said the Article 14 of the Constitution allows the Parliament to frame laws based on "reasonable classification" which, he said, was in the Bill. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes where 391 members were present and voting.