As Hindu and Sikh refugees staged a protest near Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, demanding an apology from him over his statements against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the Delhi Chief Minister slammed the protesters calling them “Pakistanis” and questioned their “audacity”.
"The audacity of these Pakistanis! First, they illegally infiltrated our country, breaking our laws. They should have been in jail. They have the audacity to protest in our country, causing unrest? After the implementation of CAA, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis will spread all over the country and harass people. BJP is causing trouble to the entire country for its own selfish interest of making them their vote bank," Kejriwal posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
The Hindu and Sikh refugees living in Rohini, Adarsh Nagar, near Signature Bridge and Majnu ka Tilla took part in the protest. The protesters said Kejriwal should withdraw his statements against the CAA and refugees and tender an apology.
"The Narendra Modi government is giving us citizenship while Kejriwal is asking who will give us jobs and houses. He does not understand our pain," Panjuram, one of the protesters, told PTI.
On Wednesday, Kejriwal alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to settle poor people hailing from minority communities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in the country through the CAA and create a vote bank for itself. He had also alleged that those coming from Pakistan and Bangladesh and settling here will be given jobs and houses and that, in turn, will affect the locals.
The Centre implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, on Monday, paving the way for the grant of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
Kejriwal in another post on X on Thursday said, "Today some Pakistanis demonstrated and created a ruckus in front of my house. The Delhi Police gave them full support.” “They have so much audacity that having entered our country they are asking for a chief minister elected with a huge mandate of the people of Delhi to apologize, and the BJP is supporting them. The BJP for its hatred against me is standing with Pakistanis and betraying the country," Kejriwal said.
