THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress on Saturday organised state-wide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), with minor clashes between party workers and the police being reported from Kasaragod, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta districts. Raising the slogan ‘Bharat Bachao’, KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran inaugurated the protests at Kanhangad in Kasaragod district. Mullappally said the Modi Government was attempting to destroy our democracy and the secular fabric of our country. He also hit out at the Karnataka police for detaining mediapersons in Mangaluru on Friday.
Mullappally said the KPCC would conduct a month-long agitation and party MPs will lead long marches to protest enactment of the controversial legislation. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala led the protests at Malappuram.
KPCC working presidents K Sudhakaran and Kodikunnil Suresh were at the forefront of the protests in Kannur and Kollam respectively. Former KPCC president M M Hassan led the protests in the state capital.
Other prominent leaders who spearheaded protests on Saturday were UDF convener Benny Behanan (Thrissur) and MPs M K Raghavan, Shashi Tharoor and Dean Kuriakose in Wayanad, Kozhikode and Idukki respectively.
While KPCC vice-president V D Satheesan led the protests in Ernakulam, former minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan was at the forefront in Pathanamthitta. The protests on Saturday were in continuation of protest meetings against the Act held at Palakkad, Kottayam and Alappuzha.
Citizenship ‘Discrimination’ Act
Inaugurating the protest in the state capital, former KPCC president M M Hassan said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was in fact a ‘Citizenship Discrimination Act’ aimed at targeting the Muslim community in the country. Hassan said spontaneous protests have erupted across the country, with Hindus too joining the protest in large numbers.
This proves that the agitation is not being carried out by a particular community, but by the entire nation. The senior leader said the Act was being implemented by BJP in total disregard of Constitutional principles. He said it was for the first time in the world that religion was being used as a criteria for citizenship.AICC secretary P C Vishnunadh, Adoor Prakash, MP, and MLAs V S Sivakumar and M Vincent were among those who led the protests in the state capital.