Recently, in an interview to The Hindu Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot spoke about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In this interview, the Congress leader raised some interesting points about the law and the BJP that not only introduced it but also is campaigning rigorously to garner support for one of the most terrifyingly divisive laws of our times.
The BJP and specifically PM Narendra Modi has again and again said that those who are against the CAA are against offering refuge to victims of persecution from neighbouring countries. As per Gehlot this statement is not just a wilful misrepresentation of facts but a sinister plot to polarise the country. According to Gehlot, there is no opposition on giving citizenship to refugees but the intention behind the CAA is purely to aggravate communal tension. He further said that India does not need a law like CAA to grant citizenship to these refugees, it can be done without this law as well. He said BJP is only interested in building a fake narrative that they are the custodians of Hindu rights.
He reiterated that the letter that he had written in his previous term as Chief Minster to the then Central Home Minister was for giving citizenship to refugees from Pakistan and that he still stands by it as he is all for giving citizenship even now. He states that Rajasthan has given citizenship to 1,750 Pakistani refugees between 2016 and 2019. Currently, there are 17,574 Pakistani refugees in Rajasthan and 331 of them are Muslims.
In his tweet he, about his 2009 letter to the then Home Minister, he said, “Was it wrong to write to then home minister P Chidambaram for making facilities available to those who had come to the border areas of Rajasthan from Pakistan after facing persecution?” Gehlot has called out BJP’s nationalism to be hollow and said, “They are ruling in arrogance. With the majority that they have, they can make laws but cannot win the hearts of people. The country is burning today. 15 people have died in violence in Uttar Pradesh and the violence is happening where BJP is ruling.”
Gehlot also busted BJP’s claim that it has the mandate for CAA. He said even BJP’s allies are asking BJP to do a rethink on the law, like JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar. “This arrogance that they had the mandate to implement such a divisive law is bad for the country. Modiji must stop this obstinacy, see reason and withdraw the law,” Gehlot concluded.
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