Kerala Governor and former union minister from prime minister (PM) Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinet, Arif Mohammad Khan has thrown weight in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, reports Asian News International (ANI).

Governor Khan observed that Mahatma Gandhi and nation's first PM Jawahar Lal Nehru had made the promise on right to citizenship to minorities in Pakistan. He also noted that incumbent Chief Minister (CM) of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot had in the past sought rights for refugees who had come to India.

Further slamming the Indian National Congress for portraying Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 as discriminatory towards a community, Governor Khan said that the Act fulfils the promise made by the then party leaders to the non-Muslims who had been left in Pakistan post partition. This underscores the Government of India’s commitment to provide them employment, citizenship and comfortable life.

He also quoted Mahatma Gandhi who on 7 July 1947 said that the Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan had a right to come and live in India if they did not want to live in Pakistan.