Inter-faith group ‘supports’ CAA

NEW DELHI: An inter-faith delegation comprising spiritual leaders and social reformers met minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday to purportedly express solidarity with the government's decision to bring the Citizenship Amendment Act in aid of

persecuted minorities

from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

A home ministry release issued after the interaction said the delegation members - Jain Acharya Dr Lokeshji, meditation guru Swami Deepankar, Mufti Shamoon Qasmi, Sardar Sant Singh, Veer Chakra awardee Col (Retd) T P Tyagi, Vineet Kumar and Gautam - "expressed solidarity with the government and faith in its policies".

The delegation, which called on Reddy amid ongoing protests in different parts of the country against CAA, unanimously affirmed that the CAA concerns only

foreign immigrants

and no Indian, from whichever religion, caste, color or creed, has anything to fear, said the release. Highlighting the principles of dharma and ahimsa, the delegation affirmed its belief that the legislation was born out of humanitarian concerns for those who had fled to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh fearing religious persecution.

The delegation, according to the home ministry, said India being a land of mutual acceptance and harmony, protests against a decision that aims to alleviate the suffering of such uprooted families, were unacceptable. The legislation is based on a perfect rationale and objective premise, the members were quoted as saying.

The delegation members are said to have declared their intention to urge people to guard themselves against "misinformation meant to destabilise our foundations of mutual respect and acceptance".

The spiritual men also expressed their desire to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah "with this message of peace and solidarity," stated the home ministry.