Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday slammed the opposition over its stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, saying some parties spoke Pakistan's language without "changing a comma or full stop", and asserted that the proposed legislation will be written in "golden letters" in history.
Modi, while addressing the BJP parliamentary party meeting, said the Bill is as "historic" as the government's decision to nullify Article 370, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters.
People who fled religious persecution have long lived a life of "uncertainty" in India and will get "permanent relief" once the proposed law comes into effect, the prime minister said.
Targeting the opposition, Modi said some of these parties are speaking the same language which Pakistan has used without "changing a comma or full stop", sources quoting the prime minister said.
His remarks were in an apparent reference to the claims of parties such as the Congress and the Trinamool Congress that the Bill discriminated against Muslims and violated the Constitution.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had described the Bill as discriminatory and regressive.
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Sources said Modi told BJP parliamentarians to bust the "myths" being spread about the Bill. He said its passage in Parliament should not be the end of the matter and they should inform the masses, especially its beneficiaries, about its details, it is learnt.
Once the Bill becomes a law, it will be written in "golden letters" as it speaks about the change it will bring in the lives of its intended beneficiaries, he said.
The draft law intends to give citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis who have fled Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecution.
Joshi told reporters that the government is "100 per cent" sure of the draft law's passage in the Rajya Sabha.
Turning the focus to the upcoming budget, Modi told BJP MPs to gather feedback from all sections of society, including farmers, traders, the poor, businessmen and industrialists, and share the inputs with the finance minister.
When Modi entered the venue of the meeting, MPs gave him a standing ovation following the achievement of the Bill's passage in Lok Sabha.
This was the first parliamentary party meeting, which occurs every week during Parliament's session, that he attended after skipping the earlier ones due to different engagements. This was also the last such meeting in the ongoing winter session, which is scheduled to end on Friday.
On being greeted, Modi asked party MPs to give a standing ovation to the party's big win in the Karnataka bypolls, noting that it swept it by wining 12 of 15 seats and bagged two constituencies it had earlier never won.
A stable government in the state will speed up its development, he said.
Modi also asked the BJP leaders to spread awareness about the Union government's big achievements like the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and nullification of Article 370 during "Good Governance Day" the ruling dispensation observes on former prime minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee's birth anniversary on December 25.
BJP MPs were advised to hold meetings with beneficiaries of the citizenship bill.
Highlight his government's "Fit India" campaign, he told them to take good care of their health as well while they are occupied with the concerns of the people, Joshi told reporters.
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