All refugees in India will be granted citizenship under CAA, says Amit Shah

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the Narendra Modi government will not stop until and unless all refugees in the country are granted citizenship under the CAA. He was speaking at a rally in Kolkata,

Accusing opposition parties, including the TMC, of misguiding the refugees and minorities, Shah said not a single person will lose citizenship as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"The opposition is terrorising minorities... I assure every person from the minority community that CAA only provides citizenship, does not take it away. It won't affect your citizenship," the home minister said.

"We will not stop until and unless all the refugees are granted citizenship," he added.

Shah also launched the BJP's 'Aar Noi Annay' (no more injustice) campaign in West Bengal at the rally.

He said the country has zero tolerance towards terrorism and has developed a "proactive" defence policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shah also said that India has now joined the league of countries like the US and Israel in carrying out surgical strikes.

"Now, after Modiji became the PM, we have developed a proactive defence policy segregated from the foreign policy," he said in Rajarhat, while inaugurating a new building of the National Security Guards (NSG).

Shah also sounded the poll bugle for the upcoming West Bengal state assembly elections at the rally, saying: “We will form next government in Bengal with two-third majority after 2021 assembly polls.”

Left, Cong protest

Opposition parties of West Bengal, the Congress and the CPI(M), took out rallies in different parts of Kolkata in protest against the one-day visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the city on Sunday.

As Shah arrived in the city in the morning, hundreds of Left and Congress protesters, carrying black flags and anti-CAA posters, demonstrated outside the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport and raised 'go back' slogans.

Later in the day, a minor scuffle broke out between police personnel and protesters in Esplanade area when agitators tried to break the barricade and enter Shahid Minar Ground where Shah is scheduled to hold a rally, a senior police officer said.

"Though nobody was arrested in the incident, police will act strictly if the situation goes out of control," he said.

CPI(M) Legislature Party leader Sujan Chakraborty led a large rally in Santoshpur in south Kolkata while Congress activists took out a protest march from Beckbagan to Park Circus and burnt an effigy of the Union home minister.

CPI(M)-affiliated SFI and DYFI also took out rallies in Shyambazar, Gariahat, Behala, Kaikhali and Entally areas.