Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi honours an awardee during a Minorities Day function, o... Read More

NEW DELHI: Condemning police action, particularly against women students in Jamia Millia Islamia as “unjust and wrong,” minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the role of the police and all those involved will be investigated in this case.

He also warned against a “misinformation campaign” on the Citizenship Amendment Act by “forces playing a dangerous game that is divisive” and resulting in a worrisome situation.

“I would not call the protesting students anti-national or anarchists. I would say they are misguided and misinformed on the issue of CAA. As far as the police action on students, particularly women student protesters goes, I think it was not right. This will be investigated,” Naqvi. He also asserted that the violence and vandalism outside the campus was condemnable and not acceptable.

Speaking on the occasion of “Minorities Day” at the National Commission for Minorities headquarters, Naqvi said, “linking CAA to National Register of Citizens in Assam and labelling the process as anti-Muslim was misplaced and incorrect”.

The ministry and National Minorities Commission is working on an outreach plan to quell what they call as the “misinformation campaign.” “We have to defeat “conspiracy to create confusion” by those people who are mixing CAA and NRC. Naqvi said that besides the Indian Constitution, secularism and tolerance in the DNA of the majority community in India has ensured “safety, prosperity and dignity” of minorities in the country.

In an elaborate explanation, Naqvi cited that NRC first started in 1951 and then the exercise of updating the registry started in 2013 on the directions of the Supreme Court. “So, the NRC is not something the BJP government has brought in all of a sudden. Moreover, the register is still not final yet. Those left out have the option of approaching the 400 tribunals with legal help provided to assist people with documentation,” he added.

Naqvi also pointed out that as per the allocation of business rules of 1961 notified by the then Congress regime, the list of subjects assigned to the minority affairs ministry includes concerns affecting minorities in neighbouring countries.

Naqvi said that no Muslim has been coming from these countries due to religious persecution. On the long-term impact of CAA when seen in the context of NRC in Assam, Naqvi said, “In case of Assam, if there are any Muslims from any of these three countries who have been here long enough and have the documents required, it will be verified like all others under NRC,” he said. Asserting that Indian Muslims are in no way impacted by CAA, he refuted the charge that the new law was violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

On the misinformation campaign against the law, Naqvi cited an example of an elderly woman who met him during public meeting hours on Wednesday. “This lady started crying and said that she was born and brought up in India will die here but now these Congress people are saying she will have to leave. Is that true, she asked. I assured her that nothing of this sort will happen,” Naqvi said launching an attacking on the opposition for misleading people.

