Muristek
New Delhi, April 14
Underlining that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attachment to the Sikh community is an effect of patriotism and not political, BJP president J P Nadda on Thursday said Sikhs persecuted in other countries can now get a legal identity in India due to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by his government.
Stating that Prime Minister Modi fulfilled many long-pending demands of the community, Nadda said he enjoys deep understanding of Sikhs and Sikhism and has great affection and respect for their courage and sacrifices for the country.
Speaking at the launch of a book at Ambedkar International Centre, Nadda mentioned various long-pending demands of Sikhs, including removing several community members from a black list, and added these were fulfilled by the Modi government.
Nadda referred to his old association with Modi when the latter was in-charge of party affairs in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and said, "Modi's attachment to Sikhs is not political but out of his patriotism and because of the sacrifice of Sikhs for the country and its people." He said some people "tried to disturb the atmosphere over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and some politicians also created a lot of noise about it." "I think that the politicians who create political noise don't understand the issues of national importance. Do they know that in Afghanistan once there were more than 50,000 Sikh families which have now been reduced to 2,000. Where will those Sikh brothers go...those Sikh brothers who came to India what will they do," Nadda said, adding that they could avail their due legal identity due to the CAA.
Similarly, those Sikhs who came from Pakistan after Independence and settled in Jammu and Kashmir got their due legal status after the abrogation of Article 370.