Dissent Within? BJP's Chandra Bose, Netaji's Grandnephew, Has Queries On Citizenship Law

At a time when the BJP is tackling the strong anti-CAA wave in the country, there are voices of dissent coming from within the party. Bengal BJP vice-president Chandra Kumar Bose became the first major leader raise serious concerns against the crucial Citizenship Law. In a series of tweets, the grandnephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose asked the party why Muslims cannot be included in the framework of the Act. Though he didn’t tag or name any of the party leadership, the tone of the tweets said it all. “If #CAA2019 is not related to any religion why are we stating - Hindu, Sikh, Boudha, Christians, Parsis & Jains only! Why not include #Muslims as well? Let's be transparent,” Bose said in a tweet.

“Don't equate India or compare it with any other nation- as it's a nation Open to all religions and communities,” Bose lamented. He also questioned the basis of persecution. “If Muslims are not being persecuted in their home country they would not come, so there's no harm in including them. However, this is not entirely true- what about Baluch who live in Pakistan & Afghanistan? What about Ahwadiyya in Pakistan,” Bose asked in the concluding tweet.

If #CAA2019 is not related to any religion why are we stating - Hindu,Sikh,Boudha, Christians, Parsis & Jains only! Why not include #Muslims as well? Let's be transparent

— Chandra Kumar Bose (@Chandrabosebjp) December 23, 2019

Talking to News Nation, Bose said that, “I have no problem with CAA but the government should include Muslims in this. I am not anti-BJP but I am with my country, protesters can protest, it's their right. We have to listen to them as well. I am meeting home minister soon, I will request both PM and shah to bring some change in CAA.”

The tweets come a day after the BJP held a mega rally in Kolkata in support of the Citizenship Law. The rally was led by BJP working president JP Nadda. Thousands of supporters lined up on the streets of the city. The march that began from Hind cinema in central Kolkata and culminated at Shyambazar. Apart from Nadda, other prominent faces in the rally were Kailash Vijavargiya, Dilip Ghosh and Roopa Ganguly. The rally was seen as a direct fight between the BJP and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been vociferously opposing the citizenship law. Banerjee had said that the Bengal government won’t implement NRC. 

A day before on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused his rivals of stoking fears among people and misleading Muslims over the amended citizenship law, and asserted that his government’s schemes have never done any discrimination on the basis of religion. Addressing a rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, he said the citizenship law and the proposed National Register of Citizens have nothing to do with Indian Muslims. "Muslims being misled, I have always ensured that documents will never come in way of development schemes and their beneficiaries," said PM Modi.