Thiruvananthapuram: The contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is aimed at making Muslims second class citizens in the country and it was part of the agenda of the Sangh Parivar, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged on Thursday.
The CM reiterated the charges he had made recently at an anti-CAA rally. Addressing a massive anti-CAA rally at the state capital, organised by the ruling CPI(M), Vijayan said the law was a tool in the hands of the Sangh Parivar to snatch the citizenship of Muslims in the country. He also said that the CAA serves as a "bridge" to implement the communal agenda of the Sangh Parivar.
"Making religion the basis of deciding citizenship in the country is against the Constitution. The CAA is a tool to take away the citizenship of Muslims... It's a bridge to implement the communal agenda of the Sangh Parivar," Vijayan said. Attacking the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi, Vijayan said even days after CAA was notified by the BJP-led Centre, the Wayanad MP has not "uttered a single word".
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress leadership, including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC General Secretary in charge of organisation, K C Venugopal, he said they don't have a definite stand on the issue. "The Wayanad MP did not utter a word during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra against the BJP-led central government's decision to implement the contentious law in the country. Several days have passed, and still, he hasn't said anything about it," Vijayan said.
His statement came after the Congress-led UDF in Kerala accused Vijayan of using the issue for political gain in the southern state. "However, the Left parties and the CPI(M) government do not lack clarity on the issue. The CAA is aimed at making Muslims second class citizens of the country. This is part of the Hindu Rashtra agenda of the Sangh Parivar," Vijayan said.
The Left party has organised such massive anti-CAA rallies at six places in the state. The first rally was held on March 22 at Kozhikode. The Citizenship (Amendment) bill was passed in Parliament in December 2019 and subsequently got the President's assent, following which protests broke out in several parts of the country against it, with many opposition parties speaking out against the law, calling it "discriminatory".
The Act grants citizenship to undocumented migrants of all religions -- except Muslims -- from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
