Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday held a high-level meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and top officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs on internal security issues.
Sources said that law and order issues across the country as well as security matters linked to Jammu and Kashmir were discussed in the meeting, chaired by Shah, against the backdrop of recent violent protests in various states against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Over 2,000 people have been arrested and around 5,000 detained while protesting against the CAA since the Parliament passed the law on December 11, 2019. Hundreds of security personnel have also been injured in anti-CAA protests across India, the strongest dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came into power in 2014.
The Act provides Indian citizenship to six non-Muslim communities — Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian — who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 after facing religious persecution.
The government has clarified that the law has nothing to do with the citizens of India, including Muslims.
In the meeting, sources said, intelligence inputs regarding role of the Popular Front of India (PFI) behind the CAA protests were discussed among other points mentioned.
The meeting was held a day after a seven-member inter-faith delegation comprising prominent spiritual leaders and social reformers from different faiths and sects, including Jain Acharya Lokesh, meditation guru Swami Deepankar, Mufti Shamoon Qasmi, Sardar Sant Singh, Veer Chakra Awardee Col T.P. Tyagi, Vineet Kumar and Gautam, met Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy to express solidarity with the government, saying the law “concerns foreigners and no Indian has anything to fear”.