Mangaluru : Deputy chief minister (DCM) Dr Ashwath Narayan inaugurated the 39th three-day state-level Akhila Bharathiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) conference, here at Town Hall on Friday, February 7.

Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Higher Education and Medical Education C.N. Ashwath Narayan on Friday called upon the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad to continue its campaign in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Inaugurating the 39th State-level conference of the ABVP here, Mr. Narayan said the ABVP has been campaigning in favour of the CAA and dispelling myths about its connection with the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“You need to continue it for many more weeks and months. We are here to provide all possible support for your campaign,” he said.

Mr. Narayan said the CAA was enacted to provide citizenship to minority communities who have settled in India following religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

The same groups that had made this demand earlier are now opposing this amendment. They are also unnecessarily linking this with the NPR and NRC exercise and attempting to create a state of disorder in the country.

He said campaigns in favour of CAA should be held in educational institutions and universities.

ABVP national general secretary Ashish Chauhan said the ABVP was prepared to take on forces that are trying to create unrest in country in the guise of anti-CAA protests.

“Earlier they were making statements and going away. We are now confronting such people within the education campuses and outside,” he said.

As these protesters were changing strategy by displaying the national flag and holding the Constitution, the ABVP is vigilant of this change and trying to move a step ahead in unmasking the alleged Maoist, the Popular Front of India, and the Congress supporters who are behind these protests.

Former Nagaland Governor and ABVP president P.B. Acharya said ABVP should stand strong in favour of CAA. “The CAA is not a political issue, but a national issue. ABVP should stand strong and assert aggressively in favour of CAA to make the country strong,” he said.

Mangalore University Vice-Chancellor P.S. Yadapadithaya also spoke. Earlier, ABVP felicitated Padmashree awardee Harekala Hajabba, an orange seller working to promote education facilities in his village.