Opposition corners govt on CAA; Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says India a haven for minorities

NEW DELHI: Opposition cornered the government on issues of slowdown, repercussions of abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir and passing of Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha during the debate on motion of thanks to the President’s address on Wednesday.

The treasury benches charged the Opposition with spreading misinformation about the fate of Muslims in the country and said India is a “heaven for minorities”.

Minister of minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the Modi government had not discriminated against any community. He accused the opposition of looking at reforms like banning of instant triple talaq from a “communal lens”.


“You said the whole country will become Shaheen Bagh. I am not saying all the women protesting there are against the country. You have spread this notion that crores of people (from the minority community) will be forced out. The only job of the bogus bashing brigade is to mislead people… Some people have been sent to Shaheen Bagh with guns,” Naqvi said.

The minister referred to the Pant-Mirza pact between India and Pakistan which stated that both countries will protect the places of worship of minorities in their respective country. Pakistan, he said, has not done so.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh countered these arguments, saying there is not just a crisis of credibility but also a crisis of confidence in the country. He said in the 2019 President’s Address, a reference was made to NRC.