Those opposing Citizenship Act are anti-Dalits: JP Nadda

In a veiled attack at the opposition parties, BJP working president JP Nadda on Sunday said those who are opposing the amended Citizenship Act are 'anti-Dalits' while asserting that around 70 per cent of people who came to India due to religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Dalits.

"70-80 per cent people who came to India (fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh) were Dalits. Narendra Modi is the biggest protector of Dalits ... Those who are opposing CAA are anti-Dalit.," said Nadda at a meeting on the Citizenship Amendment Act at the NDMC Convention Centre here.

"Congress and opposition leaders are misleading the country. For them, vote is the topmost priority and not the country. We are not taking anyone's citizenship ... Congress did many mistakes and the Modi government rectified them. Our country was divided on the basis of religion," he said.

Nadda also highlighted that the Muslim population rose from 11 per cent to 14.5 per cent today whereas those of Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian declined from 23 per cent to just three per cent.

"They say why we are not adding Muslims. In 1950, we became a secular country. But at the same time, Pakistan declared itself as an Islamic country. In India, Muslims are minority whereas in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, and Jain are minorities, not Islam. We are protecting them because they are persecuted on religious lines," he said on why Muslims were not included in the Citizenship law.