RSS Sarkaryavaha Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi in an address from Bengaluru on 16 March, which was also telecast live, congratulated the BJP for the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act and also said that it was the ‘duty of the central government to convince all state governments.’
Delhi’s AAP government is now the eleventh state government to move a resolution against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The others are Kerala, Telangana, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry.
Showing support for the Act, he said, “All political parties, should try to clear their issues. In the interest of the nation, people should try to understand and support this movement. We are asking not only the BJP but all political parties, should discuss, since the BJP is in the ruling part they should take some initiative to call the people. I think the Home Minister and PM are trying to do the same as well. Central government will take steps, they have to remove the confusions. It is the duty of the central government to convince all state governments.”
Speaking about CAA, he said it was important to identify foreigners in India, adding, “No outsiders are allowed to say after a certain period, there are limitations, like there are visas and visa rules. But unfortunately, a national issue, due to political reasons, many leaders are trying to create the confusion in society.”
When asked if there was a need for a public discussion on the CAA/NRC issue, Joshi said, ‘definitely’.
He also said that he often requests the media to report about the support for the CAA.
A day after the parliament passed the CAA on 11 December, Joshi had lauded the BJP’s efforts and called the move a ‘courageous step.’ He had also said that the stand of the RSS has always been that a Hindu who comes to India because of persecution in another country cannot be termed as an intruder, but a refugee.
Other than talking about CAA, Joshi also spoke about training nearly 15 lakh people who have been surveyed by the Sangh on the basis of age, education and job status. They’re primarily between the age group of 18-22 and 30-35. “We will organise some training camps, formal and informal, both, as training can not be completed only on formal basis.”
Speaking about the training camps he said, “We have started some activities for social change. Our family systems are in a crisis. We need to fix that, so one team will work on it. The second is environment. To save water, increase tree cover and let go of plastic. Thirdly, another team will work towards removing differences in society and work for social harmony.”
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