CHENNAI, SEPTEMBER 8: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin Tuesday moved a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 passed by Parliament in 2019. Stalin said the Act is not in tune with the secular principles laid down in our Constitution and is also not conducive to the communal harmony that prevails in India.
The legislation, which grants citizenship to illegal immigrants belonging to Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Parsi, Christian and Buddhist communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by Parliament amid vehement criticism from the Opposition that pointed out the communal agenda behind the law as it conspicuously left out Muslims.
“As per established democratic principles, a country should be governed taking into consideration the aspirations and concerns of the people belonging to all sections of the society. But, it is clearly seen that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was passed in such a way that it does not accord warm support to the refugees considering their plight, but instead discriminates them according to their religion and their country of origin”, Stalin said.
Stalin said, therefore, to uphold the unity and communal harmony in the country and to uphold the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution of India, the house resolves to urge the Union Government to repeal the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
He added that CAA is not required and refugees should be seen as fellow human beings. Stalin further said they have been made to protest as the Union Government hasn’t bothered about the Sri Lankan Tamils while passing the Act.
Even before the resolution was tabled, the opposition parties AIADMK, BJP staged a walkout in the Assembly. Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami claimed that they were denied an opportunity to speak in the Assembly and added that the welfare scheme rolled out during the tenure of the AIADMK Government had been stalled by the ruling Government.
BJP’s legislature party leader Nainar Nagendran said the CAA has absolutely nothing against Muslim people. “The CM today speaks of communal harmony, but does not even greet people for Hindu festivals including Ganesh Chaturthi and Deepavali”, he said.
Earlier, Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab and also passed resolutions against the Citizenship law, which came into effect from January 10. (IE with PTI Inputs)
