Even as he sought to play down fears over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), yoga guru Baba Ramdev said he would meet the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh on Saturday.
Thousands of people, including women and children, have been protesting since December 15 at Shaheen Bagh and nearby Jamia Millia Islamia against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Talking to NDTV, Ramdev said his visit to Shaheen Bagh would be a gesture of support to the Muslim community.
"I am not for anybody or against anybody... nor am I a middleman. I don't want Hindus and Muslims to fight. If there is injustice against Muslims, I will stand with them. I will go to Shaheen Bagh tomorrow," Ramdev told the TV channel.
Ramdev said he is a supporter of azadi, but added that he wanted the 'Bhagat Singh-wali azadi' and not the 'Jinnah-wali azadi'.
Protests have erupted across the country ever since the Parliament cleared the new citizenship law with the opposition parties, activists and students unions hitting the streets terming the legislation as “discriminatory”.
According to the amended citizenship law, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 to escape religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. It does not include Muslims.
Those opposing the CAA have contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They allege CAA, along with NRC, is intended to target the Muslim community in India.
However, the government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining the law is intended to give citizenship to the persecuted people from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away citizenship from anyone.
