CAA historic, fulfills Gandhi's vision for religious minorities: President Kovind

Hailing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) as “historic”, President Ram Nath Kovind in his address to both the houses of Parliament said it fulfilled the dream of Mahatma Gandhi to grant Indian citizenship to refugees.

Kovind’s speech prompted protests by a few opposition members.

“The Citizenship Amendment Act is a historic law. It has fulfilled wishes of our founding fathers including Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.

“The father of our nation – Mahatma Gandhi-ji – had said after partition that Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and other religious minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh (East Pakistan) should be granted citizenship of India if they came seeking refuge. We must respect and honour the wishes of the father of the nation. To that effect, I am happy that both houses of Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act to ensure Bapu’s wishes come true,” NDTV quoted him as saying.

Hinting at the anti-CAA protests without directly referring to them, Kovind said violence protests tends to weakening the democracy.

“Debate and discussions strengthen democracy but violence during protests weakens democracy,” he said without directly referring to the anti-CAA protests in the country some of which have witnessed violence.

Pointing to the Ayodhya verdict, Kovind said, “The mature way in which the countrymen behaved after the Supreme Court’s decision on Ramjanmabhoomi is also praiseworthy.”

In reference to the abrogation of Article 370, Kovind said there is happiness among people of India that people in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have got rights on par with the rest of the country.

The President also said that Parliament has created a record, in the first seven months of the new government headed by Narendra Modi, by enacting several landmark legislations.

“My government is taking strong steps for making this decade an Indian decade and this century an Indian century,” he said.

He praised the government for building the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, saying, “My government built the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor in record time, dedicated it to the nation on the occasion of 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.”

He also added that, India was the first country where the entire process of Haj was done digitally and online. “On the special request of my government, Saudi Arabia increased Haj quota unprecedentedly, due to which a record 2 lakh Indian Muslims performed Haj this time,” he said.

As the President addressed both the Houses, the opposition members shouted “shame”, while the ruling BJP applauded.

The first phase of the budget session will conclude on February 11, while the second part of the session will begin from March 2 and end on April 3.

(With inputs from agencies)