NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday attacked the BJP government at the Centre over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying that the government has introduced “ a religious test” into the definition of Indian citizenship.
“Never before in our country has it mattered what your religion is to qualify as an Indian citizen. The fact that this government does not understand that is the biggest shame of all. They cite Swami Vivekananda, but he spoke of giving shelter and refuge to persecuted people of all nations and faiths,” Tharoor said, addressing a gathering of JNU students at the university, a week after a masked miscreants went on a rampage inside the campus, injuring students and teachers.
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Earlier in the day, Tharoor joined the protest against the CAA outside Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and the nearby Shaheen Bagh.
Expressing his solidarity with JMI students, Tharoor said that the police action against them on the university campus was a blot on the nation. “I have come here to say that we are with you. What happened here was a blot on the nation. The police entered the campus without permission. It was shameful and unacceptable,” he said.
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The Congress leader, along with DPCC president Subhash Chopra, also visited the site of the sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh.“It is undemocratic and discriminatory. This not something we can accept. We mustn’t let this fire and unity die,” Tharoor said while citing famous couplets of Muhammad Iqbal and a poem of Dushyant Kumar.
‘JNU VC mastermind behind January 5 attack’
A four-member fact-finding committee of the Congress on the JNU violence on Sunday said the attack inside the university campus was “state-sponsored” and recommended Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar be dismissed and criminal investigation initiated against him. The Congress had appointed the panel to carry out a detailed inquiry into the January 5 violence at the university. Sushmita Dev, member of the committee, said it recommended that Kumar should be dismissed immediately and all the appointments in faculty should be probed and independent inquiry should take place. “Criminal investigation must take place against the VC and faculty members and the security company. It is clear that the attack was state-sponsored,” the Mahila Congress chief said.