As the Union government on Monday, March 11 notified the Rules to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), paving the way for its implementation, both the ruling Left and the Congress-led opposition in Kerala strongly opposed the move.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while categorically ruling out implementation of the law in the state, argued that the move is aimed at disquieting the nation ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"The LDF government has repeated several times that the Citizenship Amendment Act, which treats Muslim minorities as second-class citizens, will not be implemented in Kerala. We reiterate that position. Kerala will stand united in opposing this communal and divisive law," he said.
However, states cannot decide whether or not to implement CAA as citizenship comes under the purview of the Union government.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued the notification regarding the CAA, just ahead of the announcement of the elections to the Lok Sabha. This is to divide the people, incite communal sentiments, and undermine the fundamental principles of the Constitution. This move to stratify Indian citizens, who have equal rights, must be opposed unitedly," he added.
"Denying citizenship to Muslims while granting citizenship to non-Muslims who immigrated to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014, is a blatant violation of the Constitution. This amounts to defining Indian citizenship on the basis of religion. It is an open challenge to humanity, the nation’s secular tradition, and its people," Vijayan said.
The Kerala Assembly passed a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 31, 2019, with the lone dissent coming from the only BJP legislator in the 140-member house, O Rajagopal.
State Congress President K Sudhakaran said that if the INDIA bloc is elected to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the CAA will be thrown out, while his party colleague and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said under no circumstances, will the opposition alliance have anything to do with this CAA.
"This is a ploy of the Sangh Parivar forces to divide society and to instil a sense of fear in the society for political gains. We will strongly oppose it and as the first step, we will take to the streets against it all across the state tomorrow (March 12)," he said.
However, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said there is nothing against the Muslims in this and this was announced long back by the Union government.