Kollam (Kerala) [India], March 28 (HBTV): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government over the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said that the amendment of the act aims to legalize the ideology of hatred of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist group.
Addressing a public meeting in Kollam, the chief minister said, "We all know that the ideology of the RSS is hatred. Citizenship based on religion is anti-constitutional and against the idea of democracy."
"We should see it as a violation of basic principles. No government has the right to pass a law that violates the fundamental rights of citizens. Supreme Court has declared it earlier. This law is violating constitutional rights. Our constitution gives equality before law for each citizen. It is also mentioned that no person should be given special rights. Our constitution does not accept discrimination on the basis of religion," he added.
Calling the implementation of CAA a challenge against the idea of India, Vijayan said, "What is happening here? One section of the population is forced to migrate due to the peculiarities of the country. People are divided into Muslims and non-Muslims. This should not be done at any cost. Sangh Parivar has always discriminated against people on the basis of religion. The CAA has been brought in to legalize this idea of sangh parivar. This is a challenge against the idea of India."
"The National Population Register is the first step in preparing the national register for citizenship. Since the CAA was amended, there has been an attempt to say that the census and the national register for citizenship were part of the census. Both are different," he added.
Vijayan said that the CAA is anti-constitutional and anti-human, adding that the act will not be implemented in Kerala.
"The Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, has stated many times that after the implementation of CAA, citizenship will be given to all refugees. But Muslims were excluded. After the preparation of the NRC, all encroachments should be stopped. The home minister said this in parliament more than once, and we all know who they are aiming for. Kerala House raised its voice against this. We can access the CAA, which is anti-constitutional and anti-human. A public protest was conducted in Thiruvananthapuram with the participation of old sections, including the opposition. We openly declared that the agenda will not be implemented here," he said.
"All party meetings were held, and a special assembly was held and unanimously passed the resolution against it. The chief minister had sent letters to the CMs of all non-BJP-ruling states. Kerala was the first state to come against CAA," Vijayan added.
He further said that next year, the RSS will complete 100 years of its formation. The RSS has an extreme communal agenda. They have come up with this as part of that agenda.
Vijayan also attacked the Congress, claiming they had backed out of a joint protest against the CAA.
(ANI) This is a syndicated news feed. HBTV has edited it for clarity.