'Ready to talk, but...': What Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Shaheen Bagh protest at 'India Ka DNA'

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said the government was ready to talk to anti-CAA protesters of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh but in a structured manner and not at the protest site.

Speaking at Zee News Conclave 'DNA of India' ahead of the Delhi Assembly Election 2020, the minister reiterated that the Citizenship Amendment Act is not against any Indian and it is not meant to take away the citizenship of anybody.

Speaking with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary, Prasad said, "Those at Shaheen Bagh are raising 'Azaadi' slogans. I want to ask whom they want 'Azaadi' from? The anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh is not spontaneous. It is being funded by political parties. The rights of 200-300 anti-CAA protesters are not bigger than the rights of lakhs of Delhiites who are facing trouble due to blockade of road. We will not allow 'tukde-tukde gang' to break this country again." 

Challenging CAA critics to point out a section of the CAA that proves that it will lead to the loss of citizenship of an Indian, Prasad said, "Those who talk about democratic values, I want to ask the question, where were those people when the women journalists of Zee News were forced to suffer indecent behaviour? If what happened to the Zee News journalists at Jamia and JNU, had a BJP worker done something of that sort, then a ruckus would be created."

"Anti-CAA protesters and Leftists speak about Constitution and carry Indian flag but are working at the behest of those who want to break our country, we will not let this happen," he added.

On the claims that the National Population Register (NPR) will lead to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Law Minister said it was launched during the tenure of former prime minister Manmohan Singh government and the Centre is "just taking the process forward".

Massive protests have emerged across the country following the introduction of the new citizenship law. The new law promises citizenship to members of 6 non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.

Critics say that the new law is against the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and clubbed with the proposed NRC may be misused to strip away some Muslims' citizenship in the country. The BJP, however, has argued that the law has nothing to do with India's Muslims and only helps those who fled religious persecution in the neighbouring countries. 

The minister referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Lok Sabha where he had reportedly said that the country belongs to every Indian irrespective of religion. He said the government did not look at the religion or the caste of Karimul Haque who works in a tea garden of West Bengal when it decided to confer Padma Shree to him. 

Showing a copy of the Indian Constitution, Prasad said "our Constitution has photos of Lord Ram, Hanuman, Nataraj, and several other Hindu gods" and it would have not been possible to do that in current age and time.