Indian Australians, including those from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, organised a programme in Sydney on Sunday in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR).
Braving the rain, more than 100 people attended the event, extending their solidarity to the government of India’s initiative, which they called was in the interests of the country.
Vinod Elete, a prominent Indian Australian in Sydney, said that every country has a right to frame its own rules for giving citizenship and that can be extended based on the need and a reason. “If the government of India plans to have its own norms to curtail illegal migration into India, there is no reason to oppose it,” Dr. Vinod said.
Ashok Maram, a senior manager working for a top pharma company, read out the complete text of CAA and said that they were also distributing the full text of CAA pdf file on social media platforms of Indians to make them aware of the Act.
Kiran Sirikonda, who works for an investment financial firm, explained the fine line between persecuted minority refugees and illegal cross-border infiltrations.
Well-known cardiologist Yadu Singh explained the context in which the gathering was held and said it was in the interests of the country. Some speakers objected giving a religious colour to it.
Others who spoke at the gathering included Bharathi Reddy, Suresh Khatav, David Raj, Naveen Shukla, Raghava Sharma, Dipankar Choudury, Umesh Bhatt, Ajay Khanna, Bhupinder Chibber, Hemanth Gangu, Kishore Reddy and Vasu Tootukur.
