Narendra Modi

The move

Postcards that students are being asked to send to Modi. Similar postcards distributed in Ahmedabad were torn by angry parents

V Satish

BJP kicks off ‘support CAA’ campaign in Mumbai schools with an event in Matunga; distributes congratulatory postcards to be mailed to ModiPut on the back foot by widespread protests against the new Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the BJP’s new strategy appears to be: catch them young. “We must protect our nation from traitors (Bharat ke gaddaron se hume apna desh surakshit rakhna hai),” Sumita Suman Singh, mahamantri of BJP’s Uttar Bharatiy Morcha, told a gathering of about 1,000 of students, aged 9 to 17, and 40 teachers from Shree Dayanand Balak, Balika Vidyalay & Junior College at Matunga yesterday. Apart from being a BJP official, Singh is also a trustee of the school, which ostensibly invited her and other BJP leaders to talk to its students and faculty about the CAA. Singh’s speech was part of an hour-long program organised by the party to “spread awareness” and “correct misinformation” about the new law, which continues to spark massive protests across the country.From 10 am to 11 am, various BJP leaders addressed students and teachers at Matunga’s Lakhamshi Napoo Garden. Those on the dais included Rajesh Shirwadkar, south central jilhamantri of BJP; Nehal Shah, BJP corporator; B P Singh and Sangita Singh, the school’s principals. A similar program will be held in Kandivali on January 13 for students of Dayanand School and Global Wisdom School.The party also distributed postcards bearing the address of the Prime Minister’s Office among the students. “You can write your feelings about CAA on these postcards. PMhimself will answer every query,” Singh promised.was surprising, given that a similar exercise at a private school In Ahmedabad flopped just days ago. Students of Little Star School were asked to send postcards with prewritten messages in support of the CAA to PM Modi but the exercise was scrapped after angry parents protested at the office of the school’s trustees on January 6. After the protest, the school management blamed the incident on a “misunderstanding” and apologised. It returned the postcards to the parents, who tore them.Sumita Singh began the Matunga program by encouraging students to express their opinion on the CAA at home. She said, “Go and talk to family members and friends about CAA. Help to spread the correct information about it and try to stop the flow of misinformation spread by the media and a few protesters.” She concluded her speech with this couplet: “Bharat ka kuch nahi bigada dushman ki talwaro ne, Bharat ko barbad kiya hai Bharat ke gaddaro ne (The swords of its enemies haven’t been able to harm India; [rather] the country has been ruined by traitors.)”Later, Mirror spoke to a few of the students, who all said they had been told about the importance of CAA in class. Twelve-yearold Noorsaba Khan, a Std IX student, said, “My parents disagree with me, but I support CAA. I support it because my class teachers have explained to me how it is going to work. But my parents think I am a stupid to support this act, so I don’t discuss anything with them. Some of my relatives have participated in anti-CAA protests too. But I support this act.” After answering the question she broke into tears, saying the issue was causing rifts at home.Saurabh and Shubham Dube, students of Std X and Std VIII respectively, told Mirror that they visit an RSS shakha for an hour after school every day, where they learn about the CAA. “We have been explained at the shakha that CAA will help people who are persecuted in other countries. I also conduct meetings in Dharavi to spread the truth,” said Saurabha. Muskan Shaikh, 15, a Std X student, said, “Everybody at home is living in fear, saying that we have to find our old documents to prove citizenship, but my school teachers have told me I don’t need to panic.”Apart from visiting schools, the BJP is conducting a door-to-door campaign in Mumbai, in which teams of four to five to party workers visit various neighbourhoods, to counter the anti-CAA protests. It is lowkey but – like the party’s election campaigns – well organised, with specific areas mapped out and daily activities planned. At 10 am yesterday,, the BJP’s national joint general secretary, kicked off one such campaign in Wadala, armed with pamphlets in Marathi and Hindi titled ‘CAA Ki Vastvikata’.The pamphlets have 12 bullet points and state, among other things, that the CAA won’t affect Indian citizens in any way, that it will grant citizenship to foreigners who are persecuted, and that the NRC is limited to Assam. “We are also informing people about the missed-call campaign. We tell them that those who are opposing this law have a vested interest in doing so,” said Satish.