Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has said recent government moves, including the amendment of the citizenship law, point to the Narendra Modi-led dispensation’s “communal face” and reveal its plans to establish a Hindu rashtra in the country.

Speaking to The Telegraph during a demonstration at Jantar Mantar, Aiyar had alleged that the BJP government’s policy was anti-Muslim and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) proves it.

“If it had only been the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, then, I am not sure that such a big crowd would have gathered. But when you see the act juxtaposed with the NRC in Assam, you see that all this is interlinked. And, therefore, the communal face of the government has come to the fore,” Aiyar said.

“It is their main agenda is to be anti-Muslim, and anybody who harbours even the least confidence that this is a secular government is deceiving himself or herself. This is a communal government. Its aims are anti-Muslim and it wants to turn a secular India into a Hindu rashtra.”

On the turnout at the protest which was composed mainly of students and other youngsters, the parliamentarian said his hope was restored in the power of democracy and wished for the departure of “Modi-Shah tyranny”.

“This is a gathering which has not been organised by any political party but has been spontaneously lifted to this level by the students and by the young. So long as we have young people who are ready and stand out and uphold basic values of our nationhood and our secular Constitution, there’s hope. I was in despair, now I am filled with hope that Modi-Shah tyranny is going,” he said.