Team Herald

MARGAO: Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal said that “Mahatma Gandhi was in favour of giving shelter to refugees coming from Pakistan,” whilst justifying the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

The Union Minister held a media briefing in Margao to defend the law which has sparked off protest across the country.

“This (the Act) is not about political ideology but about humanity. The same thing was stated by Mahatma Gandhi when he wrote to (Jawaharlal) Nehru and said that refugees (from Pakistan) should be given shelter in India,” Piyush said.

Piyush also said that former prime minister Manmohan Singh had also demanded in the past that minorities be given citizenship in India.

“It is unfortunate that some political parties are giving a religious colour to the Act. The CAA does not take away the citizenship of any religious group, but provides citizenship to “religious minorities from the countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who are persecuted”, he added.

A lot of propaganda is being spread against the CAA and “our children are being misled”, he alleged.

“Nobody’s citizenship would be affected,” the Union minister added.

“We believe it was a duty of India and every Indian to protect those who were being persecuted on religious grounds.

Many Christians are also persecuted in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan,” Goyal informed the media.