Congress will remove CAA clause discriminating Muslims if it comes to power: Shashi Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday (March 12) said he fully backs the Indian Union Muslim League’s decision to move the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Stating that the Act – which excludes Muslims from the list of beneficiaries – is “morally and constitutionally wrong”, Tharoor said the particular provision in the law will be withdrawn if the Congress party or the INDIA alliance comes to power.

“I consider this morally and constitutionally wrong…I’m fully in support of the decision of the Indian Union Muslim League to go to the Supreme Court against this. And I must say, if the INDIA alliance and the Congress party come to power, we will withdraw this provision of the law beyond any shadow of a doubt. It’s going to be in our manifesto. We will not support introducing religion into our citizenship and into our nation’s life,” Tharoor told reporters.

Tharoor, who will fight the Lok Sabha elections from the Thiruvananthapuram seat once again, said the NDA government’s bid to specify “certain religions as eligible for fast-track citizenship while excluding one major religion is purely a communal exercise that will damage and divide the country”.

‘Would have welcomed the law if…’

The Congress leader, however, said that the legislation was not all bad as it will help in fast-tracking citizenship for people from neighbouring nations who have been seeking refuge in India for a long time.

“Under the CAA, there would be fast-track citizenship for those who've been seeking refuge from neighbouring countries. That's a very good principle. Those who are fleeing the neighbouring countries, who fear persecution there on any grounds, should be given asylum in our country,” he said.

“And I would have welcomed this law. But the moment you say people of one religion are excluded, what does that mean? You are basically leaving out people who may also desire to become Indian because of persecution... What about people who have come from Pakistan who may have been born Muslim but who have rejected that country and who have been persecuted in that country?” he said.

The Centre on Monday notified rules for the implementation of CAA which was made a legislation in 2019. The law assures to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.

The Union Home Ministry has launched a website where persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh can apply to avail Indian citizenship.