Modi's CAA opposed to Vivekananda's idea of inclusiveness, says Yogendra Yadav

Swaraj India president Yogendra Yav on Monday said Swami Vivekananda h talked of religious and social inclusiveness, which Citizenship (Amendment) Act brought by Narendra Modi government is diagonally opposite to.

Yav said he would not question propriety of prime minister making a speech from Belur Math, hequarter of Ramakrishna Mission set up by Vivekananda. "Swami Vivekananda would have been ashamed of this India that Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to represent after CAA," he said during an interaction with students of Javpur University in its main campus here.

He told students that monk h in his famous speech in Chicago said he was proud to be an Indian because nation h given shelter to anyone who h sought shelter or refuge from any religion or nationality on earth.

" CAA says it will offer refuge, but before that, we ( government) will check your nationality, your religion; se are precisely two things that Swami Vivekananda spoke against," Yav said. Stating that country has seen one month of unprecedented protests since President Ram Nath Kovind signed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 12, Swaraj India claimed that it has now become a nationwide movement.

"What began to oppose CAA, has now become a movement for soul of India, a movement to demand and reaffirm idea of India," he said. Yav said he is happy that PM has "mitted" that rumours and falsehoods are being spre and that people are being misled, ding that people of country believe in truth.

Prime Minister on Sunday said in his speech at Belur Math that CAA is not about taking away citizenship, it is about giving one. Invoking National Youth Day which marks Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary, he said, "I would like to tell this to youth of India, West Bengal, North East that this is not an overnight law for giving citizenship.

"We must all know that any person of any religion from any country of world, ist or aist, who believes in India and its Constitution, can apply for Indian citizenship through due process. re's no problem in that," PM said on Sunday. Speaking to garing, former JNU student leer Umar Khalid claimed that through NRC, Modi government wants to divide West Bengal again, which suffered pangs of division in 1947.

" most disastrous effect of NRC will be in Bengal" where millions of people have taken refuge over deces from erstwhile East Pakistan and present-day Banglesh, he said.

(Image Credit: Twitter: @_YogendraYav)