‘Unconstitutional, against human rights,’ said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday as he assured that the Citizenship Amendment Act will not be implemented in the state. He also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the grand old party of staying silent on the issue of CAA.
Questioning the move, Vijayan asked why the rules were hurriedly notified now, over four years after the legislation was passed by the Parliament.
Addressing a press conference, Vijayan alleged that the contentious legislation grants legal validity to religious discrimination, but the Congress was withdrawing from a united front against the CAA.
The only reaction from party is that from the Congress’ general secretary and in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, said the Chief Minister adding that the Congress and its national president Mallikarjun Kharge are yet to comment on the notification of implementation of CAA.
Despite the lack of support from Congress on the CAA issue, the CM contended that the Kerala government will “neither bend nor keep silent”.
Reacting to the ‘No CAA in Kerala’, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the state does not have the right to do so. “In our Constitution, the right to make laws concerning citizenship has been given only to Parliament. This is a Central subject, not the state’s, both the law and its implementation,” he said during an interview with news agency ANI.
Shah also said that the Citizenship Amendment Act does not violate any provision of the constitution. “CAA has been brought by the BJP government led by PM Modi. It is impossible to repeal CAA…It is a fully constitutional law,” the Home Minister said.
The CAA grants citizenship to undocumented migrants of all religions — except Muslims — from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
(With agency inputs)
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Published: 14 Mar 2024, 08:26 PM IST