PM Narendra Modi calls Delhi violence unfortunate, assures CAA will not affect any Indian citizen of any religion

In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that some people with vested interests are provoking people to indulge in violence and this cannot be allowed to `divide and create disturbances in the country`.

New Delhi: Amid raging protests in different parts of India over the Citizenship Amendment Act, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (December 16) assured the people of the country that the new law will not affect the citizen of any religion in the country.

In a series of tweets, the prime minister said that some people with vested interests are provoking people to indulge in violence and this cannot be allowed to “divide and create disturbances in the country”.

"I want to unequivocally assure my fellow Indians that CAA does not affect any citizen of India of any religion. No Indian has anything to worry regarding this Act. This Act is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go except India," he tweeted.

PM Modi said that the violence which erupted during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in Delhi on Sunday (December 15) was "unfortunate and deeply distressing". The prime minister stressed that debate, discussion and dissent are essential parts of democracy but the protesters should not engage in violence. "Debate, discussion and dissent are essential parts of democracy but, never has damage to public property and disturbance of normal life been a part of our ethos," said PM Modi.

Referring to the amended Citizenship Act, which was passed by Parliament last week, the prime minister said that the new law “illustrates India’s centuries-old culture of acceptance, harmony, compassion and brotherhood” and it is not discriminatory in nature.

The CAA says that Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who fled religious persecution will not be considered illegal immigrants if they have entered India on or before December 31, 2014. But the Bill has excluded Muslims from the list and this is the main point of contention.
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PM Modi's assurance comes at a time when protests have erupted in different parts of the country against the police action on students of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. The Vice-Chancellor of Jamia, Najma Akhtar, addressed a press conference on Monday and said at least 200 students were injured on Sunday night after police entered the campus without the permission of Jamia administration. Akhtar added that the police assaulted the students who were reading in the library and lobbed tear gas shells inside the varsity library.

Several pleas have also been filed in the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the apex court is scheduled to hear the pleas on Wednesday (December 18).