Hardeep Singh Puri says opposition ill-informed about CAA

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday slammed the opposition parties for protesting against the Citizenahip Amendment Act, claiming that completely distorted picture is being presented by them over the legislation. He also claimed that so much of ill-informed stuff is being thrown at us by the opposition parties over the CAA.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday slammed the opposition parties for protesting against the Citizenahip Amendment Act, claiming that ''completely distorted picture'' is being presented by them over the legislation. He also claimed that ''so much of ill-informed stuff is being thrown at us'' by the opposition parties over the CAA. The rules for the implementation of the CAA were notified on Monday. ''So much of ill-informed stuff is being thrown at us. what is CAA? I am the son of refugees. My father came from Lahore and my mother and her family came from Peshawar... It is good to understand what the CAA is and what it is not. ''There were persecuted minorities in some of our neighbouring countries and those persecuted minorites had moved,'' Puri said while speaking on the CAA in a Viksit Bharat programme in Kolkata. In 1947, when the partition took place and independent India was born, the population of Hindus in what is Pakistan now was 24 per cent and now it is one per cent, he said. Asked about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's opposition to the CAA, he said, ''She has been opposing it but I am not clear why. This is not about religion.'' The CAA seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis entering India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after five years of residence in India.

''There are persecuted minorities in these countries...The numbers are being played up...It is fear-mongering,'' Puri said.

There were well-documented cases of the persecuted minorities in these countries and those persecuted minorities who came to India till 2014 are being given rights through the CAA, he said. ''India is a humane country and does not return people at borders,'' Puri said. Speaking on the alleged atrocities on villagers in Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, the union minister claimed that the voice of women of the region had been heard across the country.

He slammed the TMC government for allegedly not being keen to transfer the trial of key accused Shajahan Sheikh from West Bengal CID to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Women of Sandeshkhali will give appropriate reply to those involved in atrocities on them in the upcoming polls, Puri added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)