BJP leader B.L. Santhosh has lashed out against actors Naseeruddin Shah, Deepika Padukone, and Swara Bhaskar for their stance on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and said that the Act does not apply to citizens of India.
Addressing a gathering of BJP leaders, party activists, and the public in the city on Friday, Mr. Santhosh cited remarks attributed to Mr. Shah and Ms. Bhaskar that they had no documents to prove their citizenship and rebuked them.
Mocking their statements that they did not have relevant documents, Mr. Santhosh wondered how it was possible for them to procure passports and visas to travel abroad or get a driving licence without documents, and reiterated that the CAA will not ask for any documents from Indian citizens as it is meant to bestow citizenship upon persecuted religious minorities.
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Ms. Padukone also came under flak for her support to the JNU students’ strike, and Mr. Santhosh said that her concern would have been more meaningful had she visited the parents of Nirbhaya who was sexually assaulted and murdered in Delhi in 2012, and questioned such “selective outrage.”
Mr. Santhosh went on to allege that the mainstream Congress leaders were backing out of CAA protests as they have realised that it will be politically counter-productive.