Pratap Sarangi slams CAA protests, says 'those who set fire to country are not patriots'

On Sunday, Union Minister Pratap Sarangi passed a strong remark against people who have been on a prolonged protest against the CAA saying that those who do not accept India's "freedom, unity, and Vande Mataram," have "no right to stay" in the country. The BJP MP also accused Congress of spreading misinformation about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said that people should be "thankful" to the PM for correcting an age-old wrong. Sarangi who is the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises also stated that CAA was a sacrifice for the sin that was committed when the country was partitioned.

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"Those who set the country on fire are not patriots. Those who do not accept India's freedom, unity, Vande Mataram, have no right to stay in the country," said Sarangi in a press conference. CAA is a way to "atone for the sin of Partition committed by the Congress," he added. 

Last year in September, Sarangi had gaven a similar remark when Article 370 was scrapped in Jammu and Kashmir by the Centre. "Those who do not accept Vande Mataram have no right to live in India," he had said at the Jan Jagran Sabha in Odisha.

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'Atone for the sins of partition'

The Union Minister also stated that the CAA is something that should have been implemented 70 years ago and that the act was a way to atone for the sins committed by our forefathers. "CAA should have happened 70 years ago. CAA is a way to atone for sin committed by our forefathers, a select few leaders... It is atonement for the sin of Partition. And we should congratulate PM Narendra Modi for this. The Congress committed the sin, and we are atoning," Sarangi said. 

(Agency inputs; image credits- PTI) 

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