Kanpur: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repealing of the three Central farm laws, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind national president Maulana Arshad Madani on Saturday said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act should also be repealed otherwise the Muslim community will have to bear its brunt.
While interacting with media here, Madani said, “It’s believed that Laws (Farm Laws) were repealed as polls are close. We think that (CAA-NRC) is concerned with nationality and Muslims will have to bear its brunt. Power of public strongest, so this (CAA) should also be repealed.”
He congratulated the farmers who continued their protest, and said, “Similarly, we want the government to roll back the Act that is going to hurt Muslims. They too are citizens of India just like others. If they’re affected, the government should feel it in a similar manner.”
Farmers have been protesting the Centre’s three farm laws since they were passed in 2020.
Similarly, protests had erupted in parts of the country against the CAA.
The CAA allows persecuted minorities belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to avail of Indian citizenship.
According to the provisions of the act, people belonging to these communities who arrived in India till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in these three countries will not be treated as illegal migrants but will be provided with Indian citizenship.
If a person belongs to the aforementioned faiths, from these three countries, does not have proof of birth of parents, they can apply for Indian citizenship after six years of residence in India.
President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the legislation on December 12, 2019.
The Opposition parties and several groups have protested against the implementation of CAA. CAA’s detractors believe that the law coupled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise is intended to target the minorities in India.
This story first appeared on siasat.com
