By a Staff Writer | Jan 7, 2020 | Indian-Americans
Braving freezing cold Indian Americans held a rally in Chicago on Jan. 4, in support of India’s Citizenship Amendment Act, seeking to drive home the message that non-resident Indians were with Prime Minster Narendra Modi on the controversial law that has been vehemently opposed by people in India and many in the U.S.
Holding colorful placards and banners and shouting slogans in defense of the law that seeks to give fast-track citizenship to “religiously persecuted minorities” from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the three neighboring Islamic countries, the participants at the rally sought to counter “misinformation, planned propaganda of hate and lies spread by Pakistan, some political parties and fake organizations.”
The rally drew than 300 members of the Indian diaspora, mainly from Chicagoland area.
Dr. Bharat Barai, a Chicago-based medical doctor and one of the organizers of the rally said the law will give the hapless Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis from these countries living as refugees in India the long-cherished dignity, honor, economic and social opportunities along with religious freedom.
The rally signed a memorandum supporting CAA and thanking Modi and the Indian government for their humanitarian help to these religiously-persecuted minorities. The memorandum was forwarded to the Indian government through Consul General of India in Chicago.
Besides Barai, other speakers at the rally included Amitabh Mittal, Nirav Patel, Hemant Patel, Amar Upadhyay, Rohit Joshi, Shailesh Rajput, Vandana Jhingan, Kalpesh Desai and Devesh Pandit.