Sangh Parivar activists raise slogans supporting Citizenship (Amendment) Act

Organised by ABVP near CSMT subway, it had less than 250 participants.On a day when August Kranti Maidan played host to a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, there was a rally near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus supporting the controversial legislation. However, compared to the size of the gathering at the Maidan, the pro-CAA rally was a tame affair with less than 250 people attending it.It was held near the entrance of the subway to CSMT between 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm and led by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student’s wing of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS ). However, no posters, banners and flags of ABVP were seen at the site as the organisers claimed it was a rally of concerned citizens of India to protest lies and half-truths concerning the CAA.Earlier, the event was scheduled to be held outside Churchgate station and the protest march was supposed to end at Marine Drive. But, according to the organisers, the police denied them permission to hold a rally outside the station. So, the venue was changed at the last moment.Apart from ABVP activists, people from various organisations of the Sangh Parivar such as the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh (BMS) also took part in the rally. They raised slogans in favour of NRC and PM Narendra Modi Jayshree Chitre, a stockbroker from Navi Mumbai, who attended the demonstration, said, “Lot of lies are being spread about the CAA that it will deny citizenship to Muslims. CAA is only about giving citizenship to persecuted minorities from countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.”Manjit Gupta from Borivali, who has recently completed graduation and is looking for a job, said: “India is the only country in the world, which Hindus can call home. If Hindus from neighbouring countries feel insecure there, where will they find another shelter?”However, the organisers committed a faux pas when they presented a Muslim man as a supporter of CAA and made him pose for the shutterbugs. When he finally spoke, he criticised the CAA, leaving the organisers redfaced. They shooed him away from the protest site.