BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santhosh said here on Friday that the leaders spearheading the campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) were misleading the minorities of the country.
He was addressing a large gathering of party leaders, activists and the general public as part of the BJP’s mass awareness programme through a series of door-to-door campaigns and public meetings to build support for the CAA and dent the opposition to it.
Mr. Santhosh described the protests and the narratives against the CAA as the “biggest disinformation campaign’’ being floated by the Opposition with the help of “leftists and so-called intellectuals’’.
They have built a strong network and this, he said, was reflected in the serial protests at the local circles in the cities and the editorials in the media. But the BJP was determined to fight it out and was confident of riding out the storm.
“The CAA is not meant for people born and brought up in India and is an Act bestowing citizenship and dignity on the persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It is a constitutional, cultural and historical obligation and has nothing to do with the Indian Muslims or other minority groups’’, he added.
Minorities in India have always been protected and there is no discrimination on religious grounds. Sky is the limit for their personal growth and is evident in their success in various fields ranging from film industry to sports and politics, said Mr. Santosh.
The Act was passed by Parliament which is supreme and the State legislatures cannot reject it as it is unconstitutional and not worth the paper on which the resolutions are adopted, said Mr. Santosh, referring to the resolutions passed against the CAA by the Kerala and the Punjab Assemblies. ‘’It may give them succour and satisfaction for a day but the resolution will go to the waste paper basket’’, he added.
The sustained disinformation campaign has misled a section of the minorities of the country who fear that the government was out to take away their citizenship, snatch away their ration card, Aadhaar card etc. But the truth cannot be masked for long, said Mr.Santosh.
The issue of granting citizenship had been kept pending by successive governments who allowed the problem to fester but the BJP was keen to resolve it. The BJP was also keen to resolve the Cauvery dispute, Belagavi dispute and similar issues “’within the next five years’’as they impede the economic growth of the country.
