'Daro Mat': Sanjay Raut To Anti-CAA Protesters At Meeting Organised By Jamaat e-Islamic Hind

Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday asserted that his party was firmly in support of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and said that Maharashtra’s 'lesson' to the country was 'don't be afraid'. "My party is firmly in support of anti-CAA protests," Raut said while speaking at a meeting organized by the Jamaat e-Islamic Hind and Association for Protection of Civil Rights on the amended Citizenship Act.

"Daro mat (don't be afraid) is the lesson Maharashtra has taught the country," the Shiv Sena leader said, apparently referring to his party’s decision to sever the ties with the BJP and form the government with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress in the state. "Maharashtra has shown the way to the country," he added.

"The country is our religion. We all should be united, and this is what they (the BJP) are afraid of," he added. Raut said that Bal Thackeray was known as a champion of Hindus, but the late Sena founder believed that this country belongs to all.

"Balasaheb never said Muslims should be thrown out. He stood up against traitors," the Shiv Sena said, adding that Thackeray had many Muslim friends. Raut also pointed out that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was the first in the country to criticize the police firing on students protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Delhi.

"When students are fired upon, the country and democracy are in danger," Raut said.

Criticizing Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Raut said, "The home minister says the Congress could not stop Partition on religious lines. If that is so, where were you then?"

Raut also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for often accusing opposition leaders of "speaking the language of Pakistan". "This 'divide and rule' policy is dangerous," he said.