BJP Govt dividing people on religious, regional lines: Congress

Hyderabad/New Delhi: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail on Friday accused the BJP Government at the Centre of dividing people into religious and regional lines.

Abdullah Sohail, along with other Congress leaders from Telangana, participated in the protest against Citizenship Amendment Act at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Friday. Speaking to media persons, the Congress leader said that the CAB was introduced with the sole intention of dividing people on the basis of their religion. He said illegal migrants could not be differentiated on the basis of their religion. All of them should be treated equally and the eligibility criteria for citizenship could not vary from person to person based on his religion. He said people across the country, especially the North East have been protesting against the CAB not only because of its content but primarily due to the intention with which it was brought. He said BJP Govt must realise that people who are protesting against the CAB were not demanding inclusion of Muslims in the list. But they are opposing identification of illegal migrants on a religious basis, he said.

The Congress leader said that the BJP Govt was trying to further divide the people by saying that CAB would be implemented in select States and regions. He said Home Minister Amit Shah was trying to isolate the protestors by indirectly saying that people who won't be affected must not protest. He said all Indians were united and they would fight against anything that goes against the interest of any part of the country. He said people in Kanyakumari have the right to protest against anything that affects people in the North East or Gujarat. He said BJP Government would fail in its attempt to divide people on communal and demographic lines.

Abdullah Sohail said that the CAB and NRC would never be accepted and Congress party would protest against it until it is withdrawn. He said instead of expressing concern over the status of minorities in neighbouring countries, Amit Shah must have expressed some concern over atrocities on minorities in India. He said instead of CAB, Amit Shah should have come up with strong legislation against mob lynching in India.