Congress is coming in the way of granting citizenship to persecuted miniorities from Pakistan: Modi

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday repeatedly took the name of Dalit community to highlight his point that its members, along with other religious miniorities such as Jains and Sikhs were being persecuted in Pakistan, and the Congress was coming in the way of grant of Indian citizenship to the "persecuted" among them for religious reasons.

The PM is in Karnataka on a two-day visit. He addressed a large gathering of students at the Siddaganga Mutt in Tumakuru, 70-km from Bengaluru, and sought to explain in detail why his government amended the Citizenship Act. "They are all Sharanarthis (seeking asylum in India) as Pakistan has not given them religious freedom. Many minority community members have been under constant attack in the neighbouring country. And when we are trying to give them citizenship, the Congress has resorted to dharna, and protest demonstrations," the PM said.

Modi wondered why the Congress kept quiet the past 70 years when Pakistan tormented members of minority communities, and what prevented it from raising the issue at an international level. The Congress, he said, should indeed have exposed the dubious agenda of Pakistan. Instead of thwarthing Pakistan's machinations, the Congress was running a campaign on granting citizenship to Dalits, and the oppressed communities there.


His government, Modi said, has established an air of trust by withdrawing the special status from Jammu and Kashmir and creating an enabling environment for building the Ram Mandir.

Soon after the Prime Minister ended his speech, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah attacked Modi for what he called "making a political speech in the presence of children on the holy soil of Siddaganga mutt." The mutt, the Congress leader said, was an apolitical and a secular place.