NE NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, JAN 9
Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha began ‘Gandhi Shanti Yatra’ on Thursday in Mumbai to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country.
The Yatra began from the Gateway of India in Mumbai and will culminate at Raj Ghat in Delhi on January 30.
Yashwant Sinha’s march would pass through more than 3,000 km covering six states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
Earlier addressing a press conference at Press Club in Mumbai, Yashwant Sinha said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar will flag off the yatra and will also participate in it.
The rally is being organised under the banner of Rashtra Manch, a political platform launched by Yashwant Sinha in last December. He was joined by a number of politicians, led by BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha and former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan.
The yatra is supported by farmers’ organisation Shetkari Jagar Manch.
Speaking on his yatra, Yashwant Sinha said: “Situation in all educational institutions and the financial condition of the country is terrible due to the Citizenship Amendment Act [CAA] and proposed National Register of Citizens [NRC] Act. The country is witnessing the disturbance and therefore, we are taking out a yatra in order to establish peace and harmony in the country.”
Yashwant Sinha said he will also demand that the government should repeal the CAA and not bring the NRC.
Demands judicial probe on JNU attack
Yashwant Sinha has also demanded a judicial probe by a sitting judge of Supreme Court into the violence at JNU that unleashed on Sunday. He termed the mob attack at JNU as ‘state-sponsored’ and said: “The probe should be conducted in all such cases of violence by a sitting judge and it should be completed at the earliest so that culprits can be brought to book.”
