BJP leader and former Union minister Vijay Sampla on Friday said people who are doing politics over the amended citizenship act are not doing any good to the country.
Sampla was speaking at a press conference where a large number of Hindus who migrated from Pakistan over the past three decades and settled in Punjab's Jalandhar district were present.
"Some people are trying to flare up the sentiments of a section of people, which can be dangerous. We should not politicise the thing. Those who are politicising the issue are not doing any good to the country," the former Punjab BJP chief said.
The new legislation seeks to provide citizenship to members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have entered India till December 31, 2014, following religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Amid protests against the CAA in various parts of the country, Sampla said, "(people with) vested interests are trying to mislead everyone. Even some university and college students who are joining the protests do not fully know the details of the act. Those opposing the act are confusing things and vested interests are exploiting the situation."
He also said that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh should not have opposed the act.
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When asked about SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal's comment that the act should have covered all persecuted people irrespective of their religion, Sampla sidestepped the question.
Talking about a few Hindu families that have migrated from Pakistan over the years, Sampla said, "If our country does not help them out, where else will they go?"
"In Punjab alone, there are 1,000-1,500 families who have over the years migrated from Pakistan and Afghanistan and are living in places like Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Khanna and Pathankot. Jalandhar alone has a sizeable number with 350 such families living there," he said.
Some of the families that have migrated to India also interacted with the media. They reportedly started entering India on visitor visas and continue to live here by extending their visas.
Daya Lal, who is from frontier region in Pakistan, said he came to India in 1979 when he was 10 years old.
"Those who are opposing the act should see our plight first. We welcome the new law. At last, it has given us a ray of hope," he said.
Kesar Lal (39) said he hailed from Orkazi Agency, Tehsil Kohat near Peshawar and came to India in 2008. His nephew Sagar arrived in 2015. Lal's son Vikas was one-and-a-half years old when the family moved to India in 2008.
Kesar Lal, who runs a provision store, says the amended citizenship law has given a new lease of life to people like him.
"If the Indian government will not support us and come to our rescue then who else will? Half of my life is over, but at least I want to secure the future of my children," he said.
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