New Delhi: Asserting that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is “patently discriminatory”, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said his party’s position is that it must go and be replaced by a law of asylum which is consistent with international treaties to which India is a party.
His remarks came in response to Home Minister Amit Shah’s criticism of the Congress over its stand on the controversial CAA. A day after Chidambaram said his party will repeal the CAA if voted to power, Shah had said that the Congress is “hell-bent on harming” Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Sikh and Parsi communities to appease its vote bank.
Asked about Shah’s criticism of his remarks, Chidambaram said: “It is not only my remark. Several Congress leaders have stated the position. We opposed the CAA when it was introduced in Parliament. Our members have visited the Shaheen Bagh protest. I myself visited the Kolkata protest and we stand in solidarity with those who protested against the CAA.” “The CAA is patently discriminatory. We are restraint because the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court but our views are quite clear, the CAA is patently discriminatory, it selects three countries and six religious groups, for example, it leaves out the Tamils of Sri Lanka, it leaves out the Tamils of Myanmar. Why?” he said.
“The Tamils are Tamil-speaking, they are Hindus, Muslims. Why is the Tamil Hindu in Sri Lanka who is subject to oppression not allowed to migrate to India if he satisfies the conditions of asylum? Therefore, our position is the CAA must go, we must replace it by a law of asylum which is consistent with international treaties to which India is a party,” the former home minister said.
