New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for the last two days, on Thursday reiterated that it's unjustified to give citizenship to minorities coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In the last 10 years, 11 lakh industrialists from India settled abroad, the government should bring them back for the overall development of the country, he added.
Kejriwal said that a large number of refugees came to India after independence and now the migration that will happen due to CAA will be much bigger. "If minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan want to come to India under the new law, they will get citizenship here. Together these three countries constitute two and a half to three crore minorities. These countries are already reeling under poverty and there is no source of income there. For them, getting an Indian citizenship is like a big dream. If we open our doors to them, then an unimaginable number of people would come here. Out of the 2.5 to 3 crore people, even if 1-1.5 crore come to India, where will they be settled?" he asked.
The chief minister further questioned whether the influx of refugees stopped after 2014. He said that such people are coming even after 2014 and are continuing to come every day. "The infiltrators who used to come till now were afraid that they would be shot or arrested. Now it is being made legal by bringing this law The message within all three countries is that the Indian government is going to legalise infiltrators. Today we are talking about 2014, tomorrow we will talk about 2019 and then 2024. The infiltrators are definitely coming and will continue to keep coming," he said.
He said that spending tax-payers money on infiltrators from other countries is not acceptable and violation of the rights of the people of India. Also, it would make the country unsafe, he added. "Look at the condition of Canada. It opened its doors and now see its condition. All the developed countries are closing their doors to people coming from outside and we are opening them," he said.
Kejriwal said that if the government wants to bring people from outside India, then they should bring the 11 lakh industrialists who left the country in the last 10 years. These people have money and when they come to India they will set up factories, shops and business establishment leading to the employment of lakhs of people, he said.
Earlier, Amit Shah criticised Kejriwal for saying that CAA will take away the jobs of Indian youth and lead to an increase in crimes, clarifying the law would benefit only those who have already taken refuge in India. It is only people who arrived in the country prior to 2014 who will get citizenship, he had said while adding that Kejriwal's anger against CAA is triggered by his party's exposure to corruption.
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