BJP functionary Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the legislation was needed as there was no country in the worl... Read More

NEW DELHI: Justifying the Citizenship Amendment Act , BJP functionary Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the legislation was needed as there was no country in the world specifically for Hindus.

Speaking at a media event, Gadkari said, “There is no country in the world for Hindus. Earlier, Nepal was a Hindu nation but now there is not a single Hindu nation... so where will Hindus, Sikhs go? For Muslims , there are several Muslim nations where they can get citizenship... the opposition is trying to mislead people.”

Gadkari also denied the charge that the BJP government was biased against Muslims. “We are not against Muslim citizens of our nation. Some parties are creating fear among minorities. I assure you that our government is against discrimination politics,” he added.

However, his argument projecting India as a “homeland” for Hindus could trigger another round of controversy as the BJP leadership has been accused of seeking to undermine Muslims through legislations like CAA. This is of a piece with the aggression that BJP has displayed on the issue with PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah leading the counter-attack.

Modi on Tuesday dared Congress to state whether it favoured giving citizenship to all Muslims from Pakistan and reverse the laws framed by NDA to end special status for J&K and criminalise outlaw triple talaq. Tuesday also saw a defiant Shah categorically rejecting the demand for a review of the changes in the citizenship act and challenging Congress president Sonia Gandhi to declare that she supported Muslims from Pakistan becoming citizens. Opposition parties have questioned why the Muslim community was not included in the list. TNN

