RSS’ feedback from the ground is that the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act do not represent the sentiments of the majority of Indians.
New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is firmly opposed to the demand being made by some Opposition parties that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) should be rolled back. The RSS has communicated its 100% support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on this issue. According to the RSS, the CAA is a much-needed step towards uniting the Hindu community and the Act, which was passed by two Houses of Parliament, is not discriminatory against any religion.
This was the focus of the three-day-long RSS informal talks held in Indore from 5 January to 7 January on the “conditions prevailing in the country”. The meet was attended by top RSS functionaries, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi.
The RSS functionaries also went through details regarding the anti-CAA protests that are taking place across the country. The RSS is of the view that the protests do not represent the sentiments of the majority of Indians, who are in support of the CAA.
According to those privy to the developments, the consensus that emerged during this three-day meet was that the reasons being given by the protestors against the CAA were devoid of truth—this was evident in the way the CAA was branded as anti-Muslim as soon as it was passed by Parliament and even before any details regarding how it would be implemented was announced.
“The whole anti-CAA movement is based on a poisonous propaganda that Muslims are being targeted. There is nothing in the Act that proves this false contention. The Opposition parties including private individuals have been successful, to some extent, in spreading this false notion. A lot of discussions happened on the CAA and there is nothing wrong in it and it should be implemented across the country. The government should not retreat because some vested sections are against it,” a source said. The deliberations, sources said, were held in detail and with an “open mind” and discussed all the points that the protestors were raising against CAA.
The RSS believes that neither the Jharkhand elections nor the upcoming Delhi elections, were or will be a mandate on the CAA. “State elections are decided on local issues. CAA is a national issue. The win or loss in Delhi will not be the right parameter to gauge the mood of the people on CAA,” he added.
Those who follow the RSS know how strong its feedback mechanism is on the ground and the RSS’ estimates regarding political issues and elections have been rarely off the mark.
On Sunday, the RSS will take out a massive rally in support of the CAA in Indore, in Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh. It expects close to 2.5 lakh people to attend the rally.
The RSS has asked it cadre to start spreading awareness among the people on the ground about the benefits of CAA and not to wait for the Union government’s push for the same.
As per the RSS, there is a lot of misinformation, much of which is being spread with mala fide intentions against the CAA, which is an Act necessary to identify illegal migrants.
“If you negate the argument, which is prima facie false, that CAA is against Indian Muslims, on what grounds will the protesters speak against the CAA? That is what the RSS wants its cadre to do—annihilate this false bogey that the Act is going to target Indian Muslims,” a senior RSS functionary said.
According to him, difference of opinions was something that the RSS believed in and it sees the anti-CAA protests in the same light. “Nowhere is it written that people cannot oppose or speak against government policies. We also oppose government policies many times; some of our opposition is taken into consideration, some not. Dissent is one of the main ingredients of a democracy,” he said while dismissing the notion that the anti-CAA sentiment was a “pan India-all pervasive” protest.