MYSURU: Former Supreme Court Justice V Gopala Gowda said that all political parties that believe in the Constitution and democracy should protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), and fight the BJP’s anti-people policies.
Terming the stir a “second freedom struggle”, he said that students, teachers and intellectuals across 60 universities in the country are against CAA, as there is an intention to deny citizenship, and registering of sedition cases has become a trend.
At the inauguration of a seminar on CAA, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register, he wanted political parties to take the lead to save the country and protect the Constitution.
Gandhiji was able to increase people’s participation in the freedom struggle from 12 per cent to 73 per cent, he said.
Clarifying that they are not against giving citizenship to persecuted Hindus from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, he said they are only objecting to the exclusion of Muslims on religious lines, when there are 88 lakh Tamils from Sri Lanka in India, besides other persecuted communities.
Alleging that PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have misled the people, saying that CAA will not affect others, Justice Gowda said the Act itself has no legal sanctity.
“The government is not given a majority to bring in amendments, make laws and infringe on people’s fundamental rights enshrined in the Directive Principles,” he said.
Justice Gowda said that Article 14 applies to equality and equal opportunities, and 14(A) includes all citizens.
He also opposed giving powers to Class 4 and Class 2 officers in deciding on citizenship issues and appeals.