Shah did not answer questions on CAA in Parliament, now challenging Rahul Gandhi for debate: Chidambaram

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said that Home Minister Amit Shah did not answer a single question on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the parliament and now he wants to challenge Rahul Gandhi for a debate on it.

"Amit Shah must go back and listen to the debates in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, he did not answer a single question and now he is challenging Rahul Gandhi for a debate on it. Everything is wrong about this law," Chidambaram said at an anti-CAA protest here.

"This is an important moment in India's history. The Citizenship Amendment Bill was approved on December 8 by the Union Cabinet. On December 9, they introduced it in Lok Sabha and passed it at 12 am. On December 11, they introduced it in Rajya Sabha. In the Constituent Assembly, the members discussed the Citizenship bill for two months and the present government passed this bill in three days," he added.

Chidambaram further said that many people have come out on the streets to protest against the law.

"Thousands of students and young people came to the streets. The majority of the persons who came on to the streets are Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jain, Parsis, Dalits, and tribals," he said.

"This is a struggle heralded by people who believe they are Indians. Everybody has got several identities but there is one big identity which is that we are all Indians and everybody is equal in India. The CAA destroys the basis of our constitution. If they had a two-third majority in the parliament they would have amended the constitution," he added.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.