Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress and the Left parties over the issue of anti-CAA protests in the country on Thursday in the budget session of the Lok Sabha, blaming them for inciting the protests. He reassured the Indian minorities by saying that it will not strip away their citizenship.
"I want to clearly state that with the CAA coming, there will be no impact on any citizen of India, practising any faith. CAA does not affect any Indian, it doesn't harm minority interests," he told the Lok Sabha in his 90-minute long reply.
"Those who have been removed from office by the people of India are now doing the unthinkable. They see citizens on the basis of their faith. We are different. We see everyone as an Indian," he added.
He also stated that those who are speaking about the contentious law extensively are ironically those who want to be photographed with the group of people who want 'Tukde Tukde of India.
Taking shots at the Congress party, he said that "people who are associated with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots are talking about secularism."
"Does a party that keeps talking about secularism not remember 1984 and the anti-Sikh violence. It was shameful. In addition, they did not make efforts to punish the guilty," he said.
Further attacking the grand old party, he said that the Congress is having problems with the Government's decisions which are fulfilling the wishes of the country's forefathers.
To strengthen his argument, Modi said that Nehru "was in favour of protecting minorities in Pakistan."
"Pandit Nehru himself was in favour of protecting minorities in Pakistan, I want to ask Congress, was Pandit Nehru communal? Did he want a Hindu Rashtra?" he said.
The Prime Minister's address was in response to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address in the Lok Sabha.
In his previous address to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, he announced the constitution of trust to oversee the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
