Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on an official state visit to Karnataka, on Thursday said that protesters opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act must raise their voices against the atrocities that Pakistan and asked what is stopping them from doing so. The Prime Minister was speaking in Karnataka’s Tumakuru where he unveiled a plaque to mark the laying of the foundation stone for a memorial museum of Shri Shri Shivakumar Swamiji at Siddaganga Mutt.
At the event, the Prime Minister defended the government’s decision to enact and implement the CAA.
“Religious minorities were being persecuted in Pakistan and those persecuted were forced to come to India as refugees. But Congress and its allies don't speak against Pakistan, instead, they are taking out rallies against these refugees… Those who are agitating against the Parliament of India today, I want to say that today need is to expose the activities of Pakistan at the international level. If you have to agitate, raise your voice against Pakistan's actions of last 70 years,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi also said that protesters must raise slogans against the persecution of minorities and Dalits in Pakistan.
“If you have to raise slogans, then raise them against the way minorities are being tortured in Pakistan. If you have to take out a procession, then take out a procession in support of Dalits in Pakistan and others oppressed and exploited in Pakistan,” he said.
Modi also said that those opposing the CAA are protesting against the entry of persecuted minorities in Pakistan.
“Today, every citizen is asking that processions are being taken out against those who have come here from Pakistan to save their lives, to save the lives of their daughters, but why are they silent against the Pakistan which has carried out such crimes against them,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi took a jibe at the Congress and asked why the party leaders did not question the actions of Pakistan.
“Congress, its allies and the ecosystem they created are standing against India's Parliament. We can't leave minorities from Pakistan to their fate. We have a responsibility to protect them,” he said.
Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech, the Congress party on its official Twitter handle stated that the anti-CAA protests were not against the Parliament but against ‘divisive deeds.’
मोदीजी ये आंदोलन संसद नहीं, आपके विभाजनकारी कारनामों के खिलाफ हो रहा है। हम आपको देश नहीं तोड़ने देंगे। रही बात पाकिस्तान की, तो इसी हिंदुस्तान ने 1948, 65, 71, कारगिल में जो घाव उसे दिए हैं, वो अब तक नहीं उबर पाया। पाकिस्तान को जवाब ही देना है तो बिरयानी और आम का खेल बंद कीजिए। https://t.co/ZdaTDawNW8
— Congress (@INCIndia) January 2, 2020