New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS): Within hours of the Union government's 'structured talk' offer to Shaheen Bagh protesters, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) said on Saturday that it welcomed the government's willingness to hold a dialogue with those protesting against the CAA and NRC.

JIH chief Syed Sadatullah Husaini said: "If somebody is sitting on a protest against any law got passed by the government, it's the government's duty to talk to the people who are expressing their dissent; if the government is willing to talk to them, it's a welcome step."

His response came after Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's statement that the government is willing to hold "structured talk" with those protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens.

Prasad had tweeted: "Government is ready to talk to protesters of Shaheen Bagh but then it should be in a structured form and the @narendramodi govt is ready to communicate with them and clear all their doubts they have against the CAA."

The JIH has condemned what it calls the government's continued disregard of the countrywide protests against the CAA, NRC, and the National Population Register.

"The government's dogged persistence on the CAA and execute the NPR -- despite the poor state of our economy and faltering GDP growth, rising unemployment, and weak tax collection -- exposes its incompetence and inability to steer the nation with wisdom and foresight, a JIH statement said.

The Jamaat appeals to the government to announce the withdrawal of CAA, NPR and NRC as the "nation is paying a heavy price for the intransigence of a few at the helm of power", JIH Vice President Muhammad Salim Engineer said.