Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said a large number refugees were denied citizenship rights in the country due to the appeasement policy of past governments led by the Congress and its allies.

Addressing a gathering in Ahmedabad after handing over citizenship certificates to 188 Hindu refugees in Gujarat, Shah said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is about giving rights and justice to lakhs of refugees.

He also assured Muslims that there is no provision in the CAA to take away anyone's citizenship, as it is about granting citizenship.

"Because of the policy of appeasement of past governments headed by the Congress and its allies, those who came to the country seeking refuge did not get (citizenship) rights and justice from 1947 to 2014," Shah said.

"They (refugees) were not just tortured in neighbouring countries for being Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh, but also in our country as lakhs and crores of people longed for justice for three generations," he said.

Past governments allowed crores of intruders into the country and made them citizens illegally, but they denied citizenship to those who followed the law and applied for the same by saying there was no legal provision for it, Shah said.

"From this forum I would like to ask those who ran past governments as to what was the fault of the people, who came here to save their sisters and daughters and their properties, that they could not become citizens of this country," Shah asked.

Asserting that law is for the public and not the other way round, Shah said the BJP had promised in 2014 that it would bring in CAA after coming to power and it was done in 2019, which gave justice to crores of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs.

"After the law was passed, everyone was misled that this would cause injustice to Muslims and they would lose their citizenship. Today, I want to make it clear again to the Muslim community that there is no provision in this law to take away anyone's citizenship. This law works to grant citizenship," the Union minister said.

However, even today certain state governments are misleading people, he said.

"The absence of such a law granting citizenship ensured people of our country remained destitute in our own country. What can be a bigger misfortune and irony than this? It could not happen due to the policy of appeasement for so many years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to bring the law in 2019, and I had the privilege of passing the law in Parliament," Shah said.

He said Bangladesh had 27 per cent Hindus at the time of partition, but today they are just 9 per cent as they have been subjected to forced religious conversion.

"Where have the rest gone? They were either subjected to forced religious conversion, or ran here seeking refuge. Don't they have the right to live as per their religion? If they can't live with respect in the neighbouring country and seek refuge in our country, what should we do? We cannot sit as silent spectators. This is the Narendra Modi government, you will get justice," he asserted.

He told refugees from all over the country to apply for citizenship without hesitation as this will not affect their job or their properties since they will be granted citizenship with retrospective effect.

"The law has no provision of criminal cases. Everyone is pardoned because the government had delayed and not you," he said.

The CAA was enacted because during Independence, India was partitioned on the basis of religion and minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were subject to torture, their families were displaced, which forced rich people to become vegetable vendors in Indian cities.

After partition, Congress leaders had promised to grant citizenship to Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh refugees coming from neighbouring countries, but they moved away from the decision as elections neared.

"Promises made in 1947, 1948, and 1950 by Jawaharlal Nehru and calls made by Mahatma Gandhi were forgotten, because they (Congress) felt that if granted citizenship, it would anger their vote bank. Because of appeasement, lakhs and crores of people were denied citizenship. There cannot be a bigger sin than this," Shah said.

Shah said when Modi was named the prime ministerial candidate by the BJP in 2014, he told citizens the country's democracy was suffering from dynastic politics, casteism, appeasement and corruption.

"Modiji has worked very hard to root out these four cankers. He worked to end triple talaq, Article 370 (which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir) and ensured justice to crores of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists by amending Citizenship Act," Shah said.

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