New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Hours after BJP working president Jagat Prakash Nadda led a protest march by the party in Kolkata in support of the contentious Citizenship Act, BJP’s West Bengal vice president Chandra Kumar Bose took to Twitter to raise questions on the act.
"If #CAA2019 is not related to any religion why are we stating - Hindu, Sikh, Boudha, Christians, Parsis & Jains only! Why not include #Muslims as well? Let's be transparent," Bose tweeted.
"Don't equate India or compare it with any other nation - as it's a nation Open to all religions and communities," he said in another tweet.
The comments by Bose come even as the BJP has launched a massive public awareness campaign on social media and through its cadres to reach out to the Muslim community and dispel their doubts on the issue.
Earlier, BJP-ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had demanded that Muslims should also be included in the CAA in sync with the democratic and secular principles of the country.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.
The legislation has led to violent protests across the nation in the last 10 days. People fear that it may exacerbate the problem of illegal immigration, while Muslims across the country apprehend that the move could be a precursor to the country-wide implementation of the National Register for Citizens (NRC).
At least 15 people were killed violence during protests across Uttar Pradesh earlier this week. In Delhi, the protests at Jamia Millia Islamia University last week turned violent, with the police resorting to baton-charge and tear gas shells, which later led to severe crackdown of the crackdown by the cops on students.
Posted By: Abhinav Gupta