Maya slams UP varsity proposal to add CAA in syllabus

New Delhi : Uttar Pradesh Minister Shrikant Sharma has said that there is a 'tukde tukde' gang in Bollywood which is speaking against the amended citizenship law with definite political motives.

Shrikant Sharma was responding to remarks made by actor-director Nandita Das, who said that Delhi's Shaheen Bagh will be replicated. "Earlier when Deepika Padukone had appeared at a sit in by JNU students at their campus there was huge controversy. This had happened ahead of the release of "Chhapaak".

Supreme Court talks tough

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea challenging the imposition of the National Security Act (NSA) in few states and the national capital amid anti-CAA protests.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee said that it cannot pass a blanket order with regard to the imposition of NSA and asked lawyer ML Sharma to withdraw the plea.

The bench observed that it cannot tie down the hands of authorities when property is being burnt in the ongoing protests. "These are law and order issues. How can we interfere? " said Justice Mishra.

BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya is being mocked on Twitter for saying that he suspected that some of the construction labourers working at his house were Bangladeshis by noticing their "strange eating habits".

Vijayvargiya had, at an event in Madhya Pradesh's Indore to support the CAA, said that the workers ate only poha, which aroused suspicion about their nationality.

BSP President Mayawati strongly criticized the Lucknow University's (LU) proposal to include the CAA in the syllabus in the Political Science department.

Dr Shashi Shukla, head of the Political Science Department, announced that the proposal for including the CAA in the curriculum had been prepared and a programme in this regard would be held in February. The proposal will be accepted, if approved by the Executive Council.

Islamophobia

Drawing a parallel between Nazi Germany and present-day India, author-activist Arundhati Roy said she was happy to see that students have come out on the streets in large numbers to protest against the governments "divisive" citizenship law and proposed nationwide NRC.

Arundhati Roy, however, expressed concern over alleged attempts by the RSS to "infiltrate" a section of young minds by enrolling them in "specific camps or schools", run by right-wing organisations.

Arundhati Roy said "efforts were being made to normalise Islamophobia". Arundhati Roy also contended that the CAA would hit hard the economically deprived and marginalized Muslims, Dalits and women at large.

"The rhetoric of political address is at its worst now... as graphic as it is about spreading communal hatred. It is also deceiving in the sense that it hides the true purpose of NRC or CAA from common understanding," the Man Booker Prize awardee said.