Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday slammed Pakistan over religious persecution of minorities after the recent Nankana Sahib incident.
Citing the Nankana Sahib vandalism in Pakistan, Manohar Lal said that this incident is enough to prove that the minorities in Pakistan and other Islamic countries are being subjected to inhuman and step-motherly treatment.
“Protest would be made, if required, against Pakistan and other countries like Afghanistan and Bangladesh so as to ensure that the minorities residing there are not oppressed in the name of religion and their rights are protected,” he said while condemning the attack and stone-pelting on Sikh devotees at the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib.
Manohar Lal was addressing a gathering after launching the Sampark Abhiyan in support of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) in Sector-10 at Panchkula.
He said that the Parliament has recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act to provide citizenship of India to the minorities coming to India from neighboring countries who are being oppressed there in the name of religion. But few opposition parties are misguiding the people of the country by spreading false information without understanding the provisions of the Act, Manohar Lal said.
He said that it is being propagated among the Muslims that it is a law to take away the citizenship of the country from the Muslims, whereas in reality, it is to give citizenship.He exhorted the people to remain cautious and do not fall prey to these rumours and consider this Act as in the interest of humanity.
The Chief Minister said that this is not a new Act as it has came into force in the year 1955 as per which minority communities like Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian who are oppressed in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the name of religion come to India to lead a respectable life. Earlier, it was mandatory for them to stay in India for 11 years to get citizenship of India but now Prime Minister Narendra Modi has implemented a new provision as per which minorities who have come to India before 2014 could be given citizenship of India, he added.
He further said that during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Government in which Lal Krishna Advani was the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh had himself said in the Lok Sabha that such people should be given citizenship as soon as possible. In Haryana, now decks have been cleared for giving them citizenship, he added.
Manohar Lal said that a number 8866288662 has been started to register participation of people of Haryana in the Sampark Abhiyan in support of CAA.He said that people could give their consent in favour of CAA by giving missed call on this number.
Earlier, the Chief Minister also visited the houses of prominent people in Sector-10 at Panchkula as part of Sampark Abhiyan and garner support in favour of CAA.Among those present on this occasion included Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, Education Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja, Deputy Commissioner of Police Kamaldeep Goyal and others.