Refugees to get citizenship under CAAsoon, infiltrators to be driven out: Shah
Times of India | 7 July 2026
Kolkata: The Centre would soon complete granting citizenship to refugees under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) but infiltrators would be driven out, said Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday, reiterating his pledge to fulfil the election manifesto promises.
In the city to attend the 125th birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee held at Milan Mela, Shah said, “His (Mookerjee’s) party’s workers have implemented the CAA to grant citizenship to Hindus. Suvendu bhai (chief minister Suvendu Adhikari) has daily been reminding me about it. We will complete the work of granting citizenship soon.”
Referring to the Nehru-Liaquat pact of 1950 between then PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan PM Liaquat Ali Khan, Shah said Mookerjee realized the pact failed to protect the interest of minorities in Pakistan. “I have studied the resignation letter of Syama Prasad Mookerjee from the first cabinet (in 1950). He found under the pact, India protected its minority population but failed to protect the Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh. He resigned, declaring the pact as one-sided,” Shah said. In the same breath, he reiterated his pledge to “drive out infiltrators”. “I have said this repeatedly. We will drive out each infiltrator from the state,” he said.
Shah on Monday viewed the BJP as the ideological and organizational extension of Mookerjee’s Jana Sangh, which he established in 1951 after resigning from Nehru’s cabinet. “Jana Sangh united the nationalist forces in India and prepared the foundation for cultural nationalism. Jana Sangh transformed into BJP and spread over almost two-third of the geographical expanse of India,” Shah said.
Earlier during the day, Shah attended the ground breaking ceremony in New Town, where Mookerjee’s 125-ft statue will be built. “It is not merely a ceremony for a statue but also an act to fulfil the sankalpa (promise) for Sonar Bangla. I have requested Suvenduji to set up a Syama Prasad Mookerjee institute for defence research,” said Shah, who later visited Mookerjee’s ancestral house in Bhowanipore.
Shah lauded the state’s role to start working on BJP’s election manifesto within such a short time. “No other state govt could start working on so many promises in such a short time. They are working on the electoral promises fast and the entire country is now looking up to Bengal,” he said. The Union home minister listed out the promises, such as Annapurna Yojana, Ujjwala 3.0, free bus ride for women, Lakhpati Didi scheme, Ayushman Bharat and cancer hospital for women, the implementation of which has started.
“Permissions for some of the prosecution complaints had been pending with the state. I called up Suvenduji at noon and the permissions reached us by 2.30 pm. A committee has been formed to pave the way for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Bengal. The West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026, has been passed. We promised decisive action against criminals. This legislation marks the first step towards fulfilling that commitment,” Shah said.