Lucknow, Jan 21 (IANS): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on the opposition and dared it to protest as much as they can for the Modi government will not take back the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Shah dared Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav to a public debate on CAA and said that these leaders were driven only by vote-bank politics.
"We are not bothered about the opposition because we have been nurtured with opposition," he said.
Speaking at a pro-CAA rally in Lucknow, Shah said that there were 23 per cent minorities, including Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians in Pakistan at the time of Partition but the figure had come down to just three per cent today.
"Where have they gone? They have either been killed or converted or have fled to India. Many of them have left their palatial houses in Pakistan and are living in huts now.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not only giving them homes but also jobs and a better life. Is this wrong?" he asked.
He further said that Dalits were being tortured in Afghanistan where the tallest Buddha statue had been broken down. "Why is Mayawati quiet on this even though she claims to be a guardian of Dalits?" he said.
Shah slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and accused them of opposing for the sake of opposing.
"It is the Congress that is responsible for making two ‘tukde' of India," he added.
"Have these leaders read history? Do they know that Gandhiji himself said that if Hindus feel unsafe in Pakistan, India should give them citizenship? These leaders talk but never study," he stated.
Lashing out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Union Home Minister said that a Dalit Bengali family was among the refugees who have been given citizenship. "And she is still opposing the CAA," he said.
Amit Shah said that the manner in which opposition leaders were protesting against abrogation of Article 370, it seems they have a nexus with Imran Khan (the Pakistan Prime Minister) because their opposition is not in national interest.
He pointed out that after abrogation of Article 370, terror had come to an end in the valley.
He mounted a blistering attack on the opposition that had demanded proof of the air strike and questioned their intentions.
The union minister also blamed the Congress for delaying the solution to Ram temple in Ayodhya and said that the Congress even tried to delay the Supreme Court verdict but failed.
"The Ram temple will now be there in three months and the wishes of millions will be realized," he said.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed Shah and mounted a scathing attack on the opposition and blamed them for the ‘cheer-haran' of (stripping) the country.