Madhya Pradesh Minister Prahlad Patel on Tuesday hit out at the Opposition for criticising the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and said the act was implemented after following due process.
The former union minister said India respects refugees but is against infiltrators.
The Centre on Monday announced the implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had said the Act was against the Constitution and accused the ruling BJP of "dividing every issue between Hindus and Muslims".
Talking to PTI, Patel said, "I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for implementing the CAA. This has not happened overnight but both Houses of Parliament passed the law after a long discussion. It received the President's assent. The entire process took more than a year."
This is an important step by the government, he said.
"This is not about snatching anybody's citizenship but rather giving citizenship. It is a basic element of the land (mool tattva) of India that we respect refugees but are against infiltrators," Patel said.
"Digvijaya Singh will not understand this," he said.
The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently, received the President's assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it. The law could not come into effect as rules had not been notified till now.
