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Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress flayed the government’s move to introduce Citizen (Amendment) Act in college syllabus to highlight its positive aspects.
Besides other law courses run by state-run universities, the course on the new citizen law is likely to be introduced in political science department of Lucknow University.
BSP chief Mayawati was the first who expressed her displeasure over the planned introduction of the ‘positives’ of the CAA in university curriculum and tweeted on Friday, “The CAA debate etc. is fine, but despite proceedings in the court, the inclusion of this controversial and divisive citizenship law by Lucknow University in the syllabus is completely wrong and inappropriate. The BSP strongly opposes this and will certainly take it back when it comes to power in UP.”
Taking on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party regimes at the Centre and in UP, Congress leader in Legislative Council, Deepak Singh, charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, besides other BJP CMs, were saffronising educational institutions at the behest of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.
“After appointing RSS functionaries as vice-chancellor or on other key posts of universities, the BJP is introducing courses either to divide the society on communal lines or to distort historical facts,” Singh asserted.
The Congress leader said that his party would definitely oppose the introduction of the CAA in the syllabus.  
As per reports, Lucknow University authorities plan to hold a debate on the new citizenship law in February. Following the debate by the political science department, a proposal will be sent for the inclusion of positive aspects of the CAA in syllabus.
Head of LU political science department Shashi Shukla tried to clarify the issue.
Speaking to a news agency, she reasoned that the move was needed to clarify the CAA.
“There is a proposal for a paper under the subject’s contemporary issue in Indian politics and including the CAA in it is under consideration. We will include it in the syllabus and put it on the board as a proposal. If passed, it will be sent to the academic council and once cleared, it will be taught in classes,” she said.
The BJP government has drawn flak from citizens across India against the CAA that fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
While the government claimed that the law was necessary to provide relief to thousands of people fleeing religious persecution in those countries, opponents contended that the law purposely left out Muslims and did not provide relief to those fleeing similar persecution in neighbouring Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
In recent past, there have been violent protests against the CAA in several cities of UP and prohibitory orders were put in place for days to quell protests in December.