MALAPPURAM: Catapulting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) into a poll plank in the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday that the BJP-led Union government is attempting to convert Muslims into second-class citizens through the CAA.
“Giving citizenship based on religion is a blatant violation of our constitutional principles,” the chief minister said at an anti-CAA rally organised by the Constitution Protection Committee in Malappuram.
Picking up on Pinarayi’s speech, the BJP shot off a petition to the Election Commission of India complaining that the CM violated the model code of conduct.
At the rally, Pinarayi said: “Through the CAA, they are providing citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan. They deliberately avoided Muslims from the list of communities. With the CAA, they aim to make the citizenship of migrant Muslims in the country illegal.”
In the complaint, BJP state executive committee member K K Surendran said the CM is misleading the people by stating that Kerala will not implement laws like CAA and NPR, thus creating a Hindu-Muslim divide and instilling hatred among them.
RSS considers Indian minorities, communists as enemies: Pinarayi
“His speech implies that no Muslim can live in India by virtue of the law. The chief minister made such a speech to stir up religious sentiments, incite riots, and gain political mileage,” the BJP complaint said.
Surendran’s petition also said the CM has been continuously making speeches in complete violation of the model code of conduct. “We demand that the CM be banned from campaigning, and immediate legal action should be taken,” the petition said.
Pinarayi had also waded into the Union government for refusing to consider the objections raised by foreign countries against implementing the CAA.
“The BJP is implementing the RSS agenda in the country. The RSS affirms that they have internal enemies in the country. The concept of fighting against internal enemies in the country was adopted from (Adolf) Hitler. Hitler considered the minorities in Germany and communists as his enemies. And in the same way, the RSS considers minorities in India and communists as their enemies. When the CAA was passed, the Centre faced objections from the UN and some foreign countries. However, like how Hitler refused objections from other countries while implementing his agenda in Germany, the BJP government also ignored objections against implementing the CAA from foreign countries,” he said.
The CM also criticised the Congress for its lack of a strong stand against the CAA.
Samastha extends support
Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama leader Salahudheen Faizy Vallapuzha said it is impossible for the people of Kerala not to support a government that has declared the CAA will not be implemented in the state.
“If CAA is a major threat to Muslims, NRC and NPR are threats to all communities. The move to implement CAA and other similar rules should be objected to unitedly. Samastha is extending its support to such fights,” he said.
