'Rahul baba, I have come to challenge you - read CAA': Amit Shah attacks Congress

'Rahul baba, I have come to challenge you - read CAA': Amit Shah attacks Congress

AgenciesUpdated: Saturday, January 18, 2020, 10:37 PM IST
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah | Photo by PTI

Hubballi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to prove that the Citizenship Amendment Act would take away citizenship from Indian Muslims, as he advised him to read the act completely.

Terming those against CAA as "anti-Dalits", Shah said that there was no clause in the new act that takes away citizenship of Muslims, and accused the Congress and Rahul Gandhi of trying to create confusion.

"I challenge Rahul Gandhi... read the CAA completely, if you find anything that takes away citizenship of Indian Muslims... our Pralhad Joshi (Parliamentary Affairs Minister) is ready to debate with you," Shah said.

Addressing a public meeting here on the CAA as part of BJP's nationwide 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan', he accused the Congress of dividing the country on the basis of religion.

The BJP national president also accused the Congress, the Communist party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the JDS, BSP, and SP of indulging in vote bank politicson CAA.

Earlier in the day, a group of protesters raised "Go Back Amit Shah" slogans here and released black balloons in the air.

Protesters claiming to be members of Samvidhana Samrakshana Samithi (Constitution Protection Committee) tried to stage a protest by sloganeering against Shah, NRC and CAA at court circle here, despite police denying permission.

They were later detained by the police, official sources said.

According to reports, black balloons were also released in the air by some protesters, as the mark of protest.

Very generous says Taslima Nasreen

Kozhikode: Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Friday termed the contentious CAA 'very good' and 'generous' and suggested that the new law should also include Muslim community, free thinkers and atheists, who are persecuted in neighbouring countries.

"It is good to give citizenship of India to persecuted religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. But even people like me deserve citizenship. They have a right to live in India. The CAA is a very good idea and very generous one," said Nasreen on the second day of the Kerala Literature festival during a session titled "In Exile: A writer's Journey".

"Islam should be more democratised and refined. We need more free thinkers. Uniform civil code should be based on equality, not religion," she said.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that there is no way a state can deny the implementation of the CAA when it is already passed by the Parliament. He also claimed that that doing so would be "unconstitutional". "If the CAA is passed no state can say 'I will not implement it'. It is not possible and is unconstitutional. You can oppose it, you can pass a resolution in the Assembly and ask the central government to withdraw it.

Meanwhile, a speech by a schoolgirl denouncing the CAA at a function organised by the Goa government's Education Department on Thursday has raised the political temperature in the coastal state.

In her four-minute long speech, Diksha Talaulikar, a class eight student of the Maria Bombino High School at Cuncolim in South Goa, said that the CAA amounts to murder of the Constitution and its values.

"And today this bill discriminates them (Muslims), thus making a mockery of my fundamental duty to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood among people transcending religion, region and linguistic diversities. The country is burning. The soul of the Constitution, the Preamble, the liberty, equality and fraternity has been murdered," the student said in her speech in presence of Goa Advocate General Devidas Pangam at the National Institute of Oceanography auditorium near Panaji.

'No cash, no Paytm' posters at Shaheen Bagh

New Delhi: In order to refute the allegations of being paid, the protesters at Shaheen Bagh have placed posters which read 'No cash, no Paytm'.

The posters were displayed at the protest site as it was alleged that women coming to protest were being paid Rs 500 per day. A video regarding this also went viral on social media.

Mumtaz, a protester, said: "Taking money via bank account transfer, online transfer or cash is strictly prohibited over here. The posters also say the same. Apart from this, we are repeatedly cautioning the protesters not to take money."

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