Union Home Minister Amit Shah fired off a fire‑bright message on Friday about Hindu refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh and their right to live in India. In a speech at a Dainik Jagran event in New Delhi, he said the people who have faced “injustice” in their home countries deserve a place here. “Hindus of Pakistan and Bangladesh have the same right to our soil as any Indian citizen,” Shah told the audience, echoing the close cultural and religious ties that bind them to India.
Shah warned that if every person is let in, India could become a “Dharamshala” – a place where only religion matters and law and order erode. “The difference is between a refugee and an infiltrator,” he said. “Those who come seeking refuge for their faith—Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians—are refugees. Those who come illegally without persecution are infiltrators.”
He pointed to census data to back up his claim about demographic changes caused by infiltration. In 1951 Hindus made up 84 % of the population and Muslims 10 %; by 2011 Hindus were 79 % and Muslims 14 %. Shah said the shifting numbers show how infiltration has altered India’s population balance over decades.
Shah also talked about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a law passed after the BJP’s 2014 majority that extends citizenship to non‑Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. He insisted the act does not strip anyone of citizenship. “The CAA is about granting citizenship to refugees,” he said, recalling how the government had given long‑term visas and later citizenship to displaced Hindu families who had lived in India for generations but were denied basic entitlements.
When asked about partition and the rights of those displaced, Shah said the decision to partition along religious lines was made by the Congress Working Committee, not Parliament. He called it a historical injustice that left generations of Hindus in India without access to jobs, houses, or hospital care. The CAA, he added, was a step to correct that wrong.
In a brief anecdote, Shah remembered an 18‑year‑old from Haryana who suggested welcoming people from all religions if they returned the land lost during partition. Shah replied it wasn’t feasible to do that right now and insisted refugees and infiltrators should be treated differently.
The home minister’s remarks come amid ongoing debates over the CAA and the Border Security Force’s handling of illegal crossings. His defense of the law and call for protection of Hindu refugees underline the continuing tension between security concerns and humanitarian promises in India’s complex social fabric.
Source: aninews
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