Shah informing people about CAA from different platforms: Anurag Thakur

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said people need not fear about the Citizenship Amendment Act and that Home Minister Amit Shah has been informing people about the law from different platforms.

Speaking with the media upon his arrival at Kangra airport in Dharamshala, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting said, "Home Minister Amit Shah has been briefing people about the CAA from Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and other platforms that no one should get worried about it. It is a law that gives citizenship," he said.

"The country was divided into two parts on the basis of religion at the time of independence. Hindus, Sikhs, Christians,Bodh and Parsis who remained in Pakistan or migrated to Afghanistan and Bangladesh... They were assured by the then government, led by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, that their rights would be secured," Thakur said.

Earlier speaking to ANI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured persecuted refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to have faith in the Narendra Modi government and said that under the rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), everyone will be given equal rights as they will now become citizens of India.

"There are a lot of people, there is no count as of now. Due to the wrong campaign going on, many people will hesitate to file an application. I want to assure everyone to apply here and have faith in the Narendra Modi government that you will be given citizenship with retrospective effect. This law is accepting you as a refugee. If you have entered India illegally, there will be no criminal case against you...There is no need for anyone to get scared. Everyone will be given equal rights as they will become the citizens of India," Amit Shah said in an interview with ANI on being asked about the number of people getting citizenship after CAA.

On March 11, the Union Home Ministry notified rules for the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019, aims to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants--including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians--who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.