Attacking Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the citizenship law, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi accused the two leaders of making “inflammatory remarks” on the subject.

Drawing on the students’ protests, Sonia Gandhi said it was clear that the government was not in the mood to listen and urged the people of the country to stand solidly in their struggle for equal protection of the law.

He said, “As the pace of student protests increases, it is clear that the government is trying its best. Not a single day passes without the Home Minister, and some days the Prime Minister himself makes inflammatory statements. The CWC must clearly declare that millions of Congress workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of India in the struggle for equality, laws, justice and equal protection of honor.

The citizenship law, which came into force yesterday after Parliament passed it in December last year, was said to be “discriminatory and divisive”, with the Congress chief saying that the motive behind bringing such a law is to “divide the Indian people on religious grounds”.

The PM and the Home Minister have repeatedly emphasized on their part that the law only grants citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from three neighboring countries and does not snatch the rights of Indian Muslims.

The CAA grants citizenship to six unspecified non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. This is the first time that citizenship in the country is being granted on religious grounds, prompting critics to say. It violates the right to equality.