Exclusive: Ravi Shankar Prasad On CAA/NRC

In an exclusive interview with INDIA TODAY Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad defends the government’s decision to implement the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, the motive behind the decision to update the National Population Register and its stand on the National Register of Citizens. Excerpts from the interview:

- Raj Chengappa

Q. A resolution passed by 20 Opposition parties has said that the CAA, NPR and NRC are unconstitutional, specifically targeting the poor and the downtrodden. These will crush the tribal and the linguistic and religious minorities. What do you have to say about this resolution?

A. If the main mover of the resolution, the Congress, had done their homework, they would not have exposed themselves to the charges of duplicity. Who conceived the idea of the CAA? Didn’t Dr Manmohan Singh in 2003, as the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, ask the then home minister L.K. Advani to grant citizenship to all persecuted minorities? In 2002, Ashok Gehlot, as the chief minister of Rajasthan, wrote to Advani, requesting citizenship for Hindus and Sikhs from these countries. Tarun Gogoi, as Assam chief minister, also wrote about it. When they ask for it, it’s fine. When we do it, it’s a problem. This is basically a human issue. Can we deny that the minorities in Pakistan are being subjected to barbaric treatment?

Q. Besides Opposition parties, even common people have expressed concern about the CAA and staged rallies in metros and big cities.

A. We have been speaking to them and clarifying that the CAA does not apply to any Indian at all, much less Muslims. It only applies to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhist, Jains and Christians in the three countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Did Mrs Indira Gandhi not give sanctuary to Gujarati Hindu refugees from Uganda? Did Rajiv Gandhi not give citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamilians? Why was it not argued then that Muslims had been left out? We have been talking to protesters and a lot of them have understood that their protest is based on disinformation spread by the opposition parties.