Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday (December 24) defended the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said that Muslims have the option to go to any one of the 150 Islamic countries in the world but India is the only country for Hindus.
The Gujarat chief minister made the statement while addressing a rally at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Rupani lambasted the Congress for opposing the CAA, accusing the grand old party of failing to honour the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh on this matter.
“There were 22 per cent Hindus in Pakistan at the time of Partition (in 1947). Now, due to persecution, rapes and constant torture, their population has reduced to just 3 per cent. That is why Hindus want to come back to India. We are doing what the Congress was supposed to do to help these distressed Hindus. And when we are doing it now, you are opposing it,” said Rupani.
The Gujarat CM added that the Hindu population has come down to just 2 per cent in neighbouring Bangladesh.“Out of 2 lakh Hindu and Sikh residents in Afghanistan some decades back, their number is just 500 today. Muslims can go to any of the 150 countries, but there is only one country for the Hindus, and that is India. So what is the problem if they want to come back?” asked Rupani.
Rupani also accused the Congress and other opposition parties of ‘inciting’ Muslims to achieve their political goals and destabilise the BJP-led government at the Centre.
Amid ongoing anti-CAA protests in different parts of the country, several BJP leaders have been holding rallies to raise awareness about the new legislation. On December 23, BJP working president JP Nadda held a roadshow in Kolkata in support of the new law.
