Article 370 annulment, CAA here to stay, will implement UCC if BJP retains power: Amit Shah to Network18
The Union Home Minister also slammed what he claimed to be the vote bank politics of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for the infiltration problem in the state Image Courtesy PTI
Asserting that big ticket changes such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and repeal of Article 370 by the BJP led NDA government are here to stay, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Opposition of indulging in minority appeasement in a desperate bid to return to power at the Centre.
During an interview with Network18’s MD and Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Amit Shah also expressed the BJP’s determination to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) if Narendra Modi wins a third consecutive term as prime minister.
This is their trick to get the votes of minorities. Neither will they come to power nor will Article 370 come back. Neither will they come to power nor will CAA be repealed. They also know this. But they want to book minority votes by doing minority appeasement. This is the only reason they are spreading these lies,” Amit Shah said.
“In this interview, I want to tell the people of the country through you that as long as there is even a single MP of Bharatiya Janata Party in Parliament, Article 370 cannot come back, CAA cannot be abolished. Now Article 370 has become history, and CAA has become a reality,” he added. “They do not know that citizenship is a central subject and the state government has nothing to do with it. Maybe they know but they say this to mislead the minorities. Your appeasement policy will not succeed now because when you do appeasement towards one group, a second one will counterproductively unite on the other side with that awareness. Now it will not succeed.”
Slamming the Congress for opposing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Amit Shah pointed out that personal laws based on religion should have no place in a secular nation.
“Uniform civil code is the mandate of our Constitution, the guiding principles that the Constitution has given us that the legislature and Parliament of the country will have to make efforts at the right time to implement uniform civil code in this country,” the senior BJP leader said. “I think the right time has come. And we are not saying this today. Before our party was formed, it was in the manifesto that there should not be any religious laws in the country, there should be uniform civil code. If this a secular country, how can there be laws on the basis of religion? There should not be.”
Talking about the implementation process of CAA, Shah said, “Applications have started to come in. Scrutiny is happening according to the rules. And I think before the elections, before the last phase, the process of giving citizenship will start.”
The Union Home Minister also slammed what he claimed to be the vote bank politics of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the infiltration problem in the state.
“As far as the question of infiltration is concerned, now it is happening only in one state. West Bengal. Because it has the Mamata Banerjee government’s blessings. That’s because she sees infiltrators as a vote bank. They do not see infiltration as a national security threat. They think that their vote bank is growing. This is very dangerous thinking not only for Bengal but for the entire country,” Shah said. “I want to make a heartfelt appeal to the people of Bengal that make the BJP successful this time. After that, ensure the formation of a BJP government there. We will build such a border that not even a bird will be able to sneak across.”