Demanding CAA withdrawal, Gandhi Shanti Yatra docks in Pune

Actor Shatrughan Sinha and senior Congressman Prithviraj Chavan participated in the rally at Kothrud

The Gandhi Shanti Yatra (peace march) organised by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and union minister Yashwant Sinha to demand withdrawal of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) reached Pune from Mumbai on Thursday evening with a public rally at Gandhi Bhavan, Kothrud.

The Gandhi Shanti Yatra organised by former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha (with bouquet) and senior Congressman Prithviraj Chavan (with garland) arrived in Pune on Thursday evening. They were welcomed by Pimpri-Chinchwad Congress leaders at Bhakti chowk, Nigdi. (HT/PHOTO)

The yatra was flagged off by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Thursday morning and will proceed to Nashik on Friday morning. It is set to culminate at Raj Ghat in New Delhi on January 30, after passing through Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

Sinha, who was accompanied by former BJP leader and actor Shatrughan Sinha and senior Congressman Prithviraj Chavan, said that the BJP was trying to polarise and divide the country to mask its failures on the economic front.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Sinha said, “The existing provisions in the law are adequate to provide citizenship to people from other countries. However, two egoist leaders want to divide the country.”

He said that the government was completely silent about the large-scale migration of Tibetans, and Tamils from Sri Lanka and was raising questions over a specific community. “There are many Muslim countries, why then are only Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan mentioned in the Act?” he asked.

He said that the Gandhi Peace March will spend the maximum number of days in Gujarat which has many places associated with the father of the nation. The West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal have already supported the yatra and we are hopeful that more people will join us till January 30, when we reach Delhi, he said.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said that there was fear that the government will abuse detention camps to harass citizens. “Sharad Pawar and I will attend the rally in New Delhi on January 30 and many other leaders are expected to join,” he said.

Former minister Shatrughan Sinha said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah were giving contradictory statements on the NRC (National Register of Citizens) and were polarising the country. “We want peace and therefore, this Gandhi peace yatra has been organised,” he said.