At all-party meet on Afghanistan crisis, Modi govt finds Shiv Sena support on CAA

At the meeting, the Modi govt said it is currently following a ‘wait and watch’ policy and the main focus is to evacuate people from the crisis-hit country.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar interacts with the media after briefing the floor leaders of political parties in Parliament on the present situation in Afghanistan, in New Delhi | PTI Photo

New Delhi: At an all-party meeting convened Thursday to discuss the Afghanistan crisis, the Modi government found the support of the Shiv Sena on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

During the meeting, the Shiv Sena, an ally of the Congress in Maharashtra, demanded that Afghan Hindus and Sikhs be given Indian citizenship under the CAA law.

“There are a number of Hindu, Sikh and other minorities who are getting evacuated from Afghanistan and are being brought to India. The government had introduced the CAA law, so we have demanded that they should be given citizenship under it,” Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar told ThePrint.

“In the meeting also I raised this issue and said it is a good thing that minorities from Afghanistan are being evacuated in a safe manner and should be given citizenship. We have extended our support to the CAA.”

The Shiv Sena’s remarks come days after Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Sunday said that recent developments in India’s volatile neighbourhood and how Sikhs and Hindus are going through a harrowing time is precisely why it was necessary to enact the CAA.

The Shiv Sena had supported the CAA bill in the Lok Sabha in 2019 when it came up for passage but abstained from voting in the Rajya Sabha, accusing the government of doing politics over this. A few weeks later, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray defended it, saying “no one needs to fear about the CAA”.

Govt following ‘wait and watch’ policy

At the meeting, attended by 37 leaders from 31 parties, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar briefed the floor leaders on the situation in Afghanistan.

According to sources, the government told the party leaders that it is currently following a ‘wait and watch’ policy and the main focus is to evacuate people from the crisis-hit country.

However, the Congress, sources said, asked why the foreign minister, and not the prime minister briefed the floor leaders.

A source added that the Congress also asked whether Atal Bihari Vajpayee had briefed the all-party meeting on 15 September and 30 September 2001 after the US invasion of Afghanistan.

What other party leaders said

Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said his party does not support the CAA and that the government should not use it to highlight the plight of Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan.

Roy told Jaishankar that the central government should hold a meeting on CAA in view of the situation unfolding in Afghanistan.

“I said that there are differing views on CAA in the country. Not all support it. The Trinamool Congress wants the government to hold a meeting on CAA in the context of the Afghanistan situation,” Roy told ThePrint.

He also said that the TMC gave a list of 125 residents of West Bengal who are currently stranded in Afghanistan and requested Jaishankar that their evacuation be expedited.

Meanwhile, AIMIM leader and MP Asaduddin Owaisi said he asked why there was no contingency plan and whether India got cooperation from the US.

“I enquired about the Afghan nationals who were working in the Indian embassy and the consulate and why they have not been evacuated,” he told ThePrint.

Several MPs also raised the issue of Kashmir and the impact the Afghanistan situation would have on it.

“There is a huge concern about the rise in terrorism impacting the regional security situation and the challenges emerging from the re-emergence of the Taliban and its terror links. A number of MPs raised this issue in the meeting and pointed out that strong measures need to be put in place,” said another source.