Union minister Amit Shah has challenged opposition leaders to debate on Citizenship Amendment Act, declaring that come what may, the law will stand. "Let me say this here and now, this law will not be withdrawn, no matter who protests... We are not scared of opposition, we were born in it," the union home minister said.
Speaking in Lucknow - one of the epicentres of protest -- as part of the government's outreach to the people, he said the opposition "can't see the reality because their eyes are covered with the mask of votebank politics".
Shah also accused the Congress and the Samajwadi Party of spreading lies about the law and said. "Mamata didi, Akhilesh-ji, Mayawati-ji, I dare you to a debate on the Citizenship Act anywhere in the country... I dare you to show me any clause in the bill that talks about taking away any one's citizenship."
The Congress, he said, had been impervious to illegal migration and terrorism from Pakistan for years. "Alia, Malia, Jamalias used to come from Pakistan and explode bombs here and Manmohan Singh "mauni baba" made not one sound," he said.
Lucknow, with a chunk of Muslim population, has been witnessing an indefinite protest since last week, inspired by the month-long women's protest at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.