SHILLONG, Aug 19: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra said the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) groups should welcome CAA as it will help people, who are stuck in other countries, to settle in their own country.
“Those who cannot understand CAA are opposing it. This Act has been there since 1955 and we have only amended it,” he said.
“The only amendment made is we are giving citizenship to minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came (to India) before 2014,” the minister said, adding that no Indian will be affected as a result of the CAA’s implementation.
Recently, the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) had staged a sit-in across the region protesting against the controversial Act.
Asked about the demand to exempt the region from the purview of CAA, Mishra said the groups should hold talks on the matter.
“The nation belongs to them. You should welcome your own people since they are stuck in some other countries. Now, they have been given citizenship in the country,” he added.
A writ petition, filed earlier by the NESO against the implementation of the CAA, is pending in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Union minister said the Centre is moving in the direction of completely repealing Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the Northeast.
“We have already withdrawn it from some areas,” Mishra said. He said peace is a prerequisite for the withdrawal of the AFSPA from an area.
Language recognition
On the demand for the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, Mishra said the Centre wants all languages in the country to be respected and this process has already started through the National Education Policy (NEP). He said the NEP will start from the mother tongue itself.
“Our view is that all languages, whether spoken by a large number of people or a small population, should be respected. We have already started it through the NEP,” the minister said.
He, however, refused to comment anything on the demand for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit in Meghalaya.
On the peace talks with the HNLC, he said there was a time when some forces from within and outside India tried to strengthen the militant groups but the Centre brought such activities under control through continuous talks.
Commenting about the movement of militants using the porous India-Bangladesh border, he said these are long-pending issues. He said the government has controlled the activities and everything will be controlled in future.
Mishra denied the allegation that the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI are being misused by the Centre. He said more than Rs 1.15 lakh crore has been seized from certain people who were looting public money for a long time.
“They are independent agencies and we neither misuse nor interfere in their matters,” he asserted.
