CAA is meant to only target Muslims: Asaduddin Owaisi

HYDERABAD: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said on Monday that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is meant to only target the Muslim section of society, adding that the legislation takes inspiration from the thoughts of Nathuram Godse, who was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

The remarks came after the Union Home Ministry announced that it is likely to notify rules for implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Monday, days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule.

In a post on X, Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Indians who earlier protested to oppose CAA, the National Population Register, and the National Register of Citizens will have no choice but to oppose it again.

"Aap chronology samajhiye, pehle election season aayega, phir CAA rules aayenge. Our objections to CAA remain the same. CAA is divisive and based on Godse's thought that it wanted to reduce Muslims to second-class citizens. Give asylum to anyone who is persecuted but citizenship must not be based on religion or nationality," Asaduddin Owaisi posted on X.

He further urged the government to explain the delay in the notification process of the CAA rules.

"The government should explain why it kept these rules pending for five years and why it's implementing them now. Along with NPR-NRC, CAA is meant to only target Muslims, it serves no other purpose. Indians who came out on the streets to oppose CAA, NPR, and NRC will have no choice but to oppose it again," Owaisi added.

The CAA rules, introduced by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019, aim to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants--including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians--who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

Following the passage of the CAA by Parliament in December 2019 and its subsequent Presidential assent, significant protests erupted in various parts of the country.