Delhi: Amit Shah holds BJP meeting at party headquarters ahead of mass awareness campaign on CAA

Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Wednesday held a meeting at the party headquarters in New Delhi. According to reports, BJP working president Jagat Prakash Nadda and National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh were also present in the meeting.

Two days ago, JP Nadda had conducted a meeting of party general secretaries, over issues ranging from the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to the BJP organisational elections.

Last week, it was reported that to counter the intensifying protests across the country against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership has now decided to hold a massive public awareness campaign from January 5-15 to dispel any widespread misconception regarding the act and to restore order in public life. The current meeting might be to review preparatory measures ahead of the campaign.

Earlier, too, the BJP had tried conducting awareness campaigns like this through its cadre base and the social media. The official Twitter handles of the party had posted several explainer videos to reach out to people and clarify the pointers of the CAA. However, the party leadership is now considering a massive public campaign to extend its reach and to properly explain the purpose of the act so that no misconception remains.

Top BJP leaders, including party president Amit Shah, working president JP Nadda and about 50 other politicos, will hold big events in several cities to promote the campaign. According to sources, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) might also join the BJP in the awareness campaign, at the end of which a huge public rally has been planned. The BJP has also planned to form different Public Relations groups specifically to reach out to different communities viz. Buddhists, Dalits, and other minority communities. In this manner, the saffron camp hopes to reach out to around three crore families.

Anti-CAA protests have intensified across India, with some of them turning violent, ever since the controversial Act came into effect on December 9. The ones protesting against the act claim that it is against the secular principles of our constitution and that it discriminates against Muslims, especially posing a risk after the National Register of Citizens (NRC) comes into effect. These claims have been refuted by the BJP. Several top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have assured that Indian Muslims that they need not worry due to the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act as the government is committed to protecting the rights of everyone, including Muslims of this country.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act aims to provide for Indian citizenship to the Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India instead of the current mandatory stay of 11 years even if they do not possess any document.