The Ramkrishna Math and Mission on Sunday refrained from commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on the Citizenship Amendment Act that he made during his address at Belur Math, the headquarters of the organisation, in Howrah district of West Bengal, PTI reported.

Earlier in the day, the prime minister said: “I repeat again, Citizenship Act is not to revoke anyone’s citizenship, but it is to give citizenship. After independence, Mahatma Gandhi ji and other big leaders of the time all believed that India should give citizenship to persecuted religious minorities of Pakistan.” The prime minister was on a two-day visit to the state.

The prime minister alleged that political parties were not ready to understand the amended law and were misleading citizens. He claimed that the amended law had made people aware of the “kind of persecution” of minority communities in Pakistan.

Mission’s General Secretary Suvirananda asserted that the organisation was a strictly apolitical body. “We have come here after leaving our homes to answer eternal calls,” he said. “We do not respond to ephemeral calls. We are an inclusive organisation, which has monks from Hindu, Islam and Christian communities. We live like brothers of the same parents.”

He added that for the organisation Modi was the leader of the country while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the leader of West Bengal. On Saturday, Banerjee asked the prime minister to reconsider the decision to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was notified on January 10, and the National Register of Citizens. After the meeting with Modi, Banerjee said students should keep fighting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the citizens’ register, the National Population Register, and the atrocities committed by the police.

At least 26 people died in last month’s protests against the amended citizenship law. Of these, 19 died in Uttar Pradesh, five in Assam and two in Karnataka. The Citizenship Amendment Act, signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind on December 13, provides citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, provided they have lived in India for six years and entered the country by December 31, 2014. The Act has been widely criticised for excluding Muslims.