NRC, CAA ploys to divert people’s attention from economic crisis: Raj Thackeray

“The entire country is in the grip of an economic crisis. But Shah has succeeded in diverting the attention of the people by implementing the new (Citizenship Amendment) Act. The country is yet to face a worse economic crisis… to divert attention, they have played this game,” he said.

But Thackeray also said illegal migrants who come from Bangladesh and Pakistan should not be given refuge in India as the country was not a dharamshala (shelter home). “We should drive away illegal migrants coming from Bangladesh and Pakistan…The states have to bear their burden,” he said.

Asking whether there was a need to bring more people from outside the country through the new law, Thackeray said, “India already has 135 crore people and we cannot take any more burden. When we are struggling to resolve the problems of our own people, why should we take in more refugees and grant them citizenship? The government should first take care of its own people,” he said.

Thackeray said the government should find out how many Indian Muslims are living here since centuries, and who are the migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and remove the latter from the country.

Referring to the anti-CAA and NRC protests raging across the nation, Thackeray said, “There is a need to find out how many among the protesters are Indian Muslims and who are the migrants…The police know everything, they are aware of the migrants living in their jurisdiction, but their hands are tied. They can’t take action…”.

Stating that Indian Muslims living here since centuries have nothing to fear, Thackeray said,”Wherever our local (Marathi) Muslims live, there are no disturbances or any sort of problems.”

The MNS chief said “They (the government) have now said Aadhaar card can’t be used to prove citizenship”.

“Aadhaar card is allowed for voting, but a citizen cannot prove his Indian citizenship by using the Aadhaar card. Then what is the use of the Aadhaar card?” he asked.

While he criticised NCP leader Ajit Pawar and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for their ill-fated attempt to form the state government, Thackeray also said he didn’t expect the new Maha Vikas Aghadi government to last more than six months.

He criticised the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena for joining hands with the Congress and the NCP to form the new government. Thackeray said the decision has not gone down well with the common people, who will express it in the next elections.