80 Muslim leaders resign from BJP over CAA in Madhya Pradesh

The statesman: Amid ongoing protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) across the country,  around 80 Muslim leaders of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh on Friday resigned from the primary membership of the party calling the contentious law a “divisive” measure.

One of the leaders, Rajik Qureshi Farshiwala, said around 80 Muslim party men have resigned from the BJP’s primary membership after writing to the newly-appointed national president, JP Nadda, on Thursday. The leaders, who called the CAA “a divisive provision made on religious grounds”, include several office-bearers of the BJP’s minority cell, he said.

“It was becoming increasingly difficult for us to participate in our community’s events after the CAA came into existence (in December 2019).

“At these events, people used to curse us and ask us how long we plan to keep quiet on a divisive law like the CAA?” he said. “Persecuted refugees of any community should get Indian citizenship. You cannot decide that a particular person is an intruder or a terrorist merely on the basis of religion,” Farshiwala added.