In US for 2+2 meet, Rajnath Singh defends CAA, says Muslims have nothing to do with it

india

Updated: Dec 18, 2019 05:38 IST

Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday pushed back against criticism of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as anti-Muslim and sought to portray it as a measure meant only for victims of religious persecution in neighbouring Muslim-majority countries that he described as “theocratic”.

The minister sought to present the law as non-discriminatory in inclusive language and sentiment, drawing upon his own belief system — that every Muslim is like family to him — which he also acknowledged made him an outlier in his own party, left him looking “dheelay, dhale (weak, tentative)”.

Singh addressed Indian Americans at a gathering in New York on Monday, on his way to Washington DC for the second edition of the 2+2 ministerial meeting on Wednesday, when he and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will meet their American counterparts Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo.

Singh is expected to meet Esper first at the Pentagon and then travel together to the state department to join Jaishankar and Pompeo for a working lunch and meetings. They are also expected to address reporters later at a joint news briefing, and, a possible visit to the White House to meet President Donald Trump, who faces impeachment by the House of Representatives in a vote later in the evening.

India and the United States are expected to announce the signing of the Industrial Security Annex (ISA), an enabling agreement that will allow American manufacturers of defense equipment to work with Indian private sector companies, expanding their reach beyond the government-owned companies they have been confined to dealing with currently.

The two sides will also discuss India’s shopping list of military hardware such as maritime helicopters called “Romeos” — MH 60R Seahawks, described by manufacturer Lockheed Martin as “the world’s most advanced maritime helicopter” that can operate from frigates, destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers, and 10 more of Boeing’s P-8 anti-submarine, anti-surface, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. Singh is scheduled to visit a US military facility in Virginia on Tuesday which has a fleet of F-18 Hornets, which is competing for the Indian Air Force’s order of 114 fighter jets.

On Monday, the minister presented a muscular narration of the Narendra Modi government’s performance on both domestic and international front, speaking in Hindi with a generous sprinkling of English words. Amid blowing of conch shell horn and chants of “Bharat mata ki jai”, he spoke of the abrogation of Article 370 to alter the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir as the fulfillment of a promise first made by the BJP’s forerunner Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951; the air-attack on a terrorist training facility in Balakot, Pakistan in retaliation for the Pulwama attack; and the Supreme Court judgment allowing the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The defence minister gave a quick summary of most of issues, and dwelt at length on CAA, which became law last week and is currently the target of expanding protests in India and growing international attention.

Singh said the law is meant to grant citizenship only to Indian-origin victims of religious prosecution in the neighboring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, which are “Islamic” and “theocratic” where Muslims cannot persecuted or discriminated against for being Muslims.

The law is “not anti-Muslim”, the minister said, adding, for emphasis, “Muslims have nothing to do with it.”

As a people, “we do not discriminate against people on the basis of caste, creed and religion.”

As a member of Parliament from Lucknow, Muslims vote from him. “I consider every Muslim in India as my bhai (brother) and a member of my family,” he said.

But he acknowledged being somewhat of an outlier in his party for these unitary views. He said people in his party often react to these views with exasperation — “kya bhai sahab, aap” and “Rajnathji to bade dheele dhale hain.”

But, he said, he believes people can’t be won over by “creating a sense of alienation” but by a “sense of confidence”.

On economy, the minister said India has been a victim of the global economic slowdown among other things and the government has initiated measures and packages to deal with the situation. He was optimistic of the country will be out of this crisis soon.

On Pakistan, Singh said India wanted better relations, but has been met with disappointment every time it tried. He referred to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Lahore bus visit and that India got Kargil incursions in return. And then Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the Pakistani Prime Minister along with other Saarc leaders to his swearing in.

On the acquisition of Rafael fighter jets, Singh said the planes will allow to “clean up” terrorist camps in Pakistan without having to leave India, or crossing the border.

The minister said India exhibited remarkable restraint when it carried out the retaliation against the Pulwama terror attack. It hit only a terrorist training camp in Balakot, when it could have targeted a Pakistan military establishment or a civilian area “that would have killed thousands of people. India did not, and does not believe in attacking the sovereignty of another country.”