Actor Vijay hits out at CAA, says can't accept such divisive politics

CHENNAI:In a strongly worded statement against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act that the Union government notified on Monday, popular Tamil actor Vijay said such attempts to divide society were unacceptable.

Vijay issued the statement as the president of Tamilaga Vetrik Kazhagam, the political party he launched recently.

Not mincing words, he said CAA was an attempt at playing divisive politics.

"When the people of the country are living in harmony, legislation like the Citizenship Amendment Act that is centred around divisive politics is unacceptable," he said in the statement.

Earlier, Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin had flayed the notification of the CAA rules and recalled that after coming to power in 2021, his party had moved a resolution in the Assembly asking the Union government to repeal the Act.

Going a step ahead, Vijay urged the DMK-run government in Tamil Nadu not to implement CAA rules in the state.

"The administration should vow not to implement this Act in Tamil Nadu," he said.

FLASHBACK: OLD GROUSES

It may be recalled that the actor had a run-in with the BJP in 2017 after dialogues in his film, 'Mersal', were perceived to be critical of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). 

Livid over this, senior BJP leader H. Raja even went to the extent of attacking Vijay on the basis of his being a Christian.

Taking to social media, Raja said Vijay was a practicing Christian and posted his voter ID, which has his full official name, Joseph Vijay. 

The actor responded by using his letterhead that carried his full name while expressing his gratitude to his fans for the success of the film.

In 2020, Income Tax officials conducted a massive operation against a film producer, distributor, and financier, all of them linked to Vijay. 

The actor was also questioned for two days, and he had to cancel the shoot of his film 'Master' to appear before the taxmen.

Not surprisingly, this was widely panned as a vindictive action by the centre-ruling BJP. 

TWIST IN THE TALE

Interestingly, this history was forgotten when the actor launched the party in February. 

K. Annamalai, the president of the BJP's state unit, was among those who welcomed Vijay's political debut. 

Annamalai even appreciated the "honest and non-partisan" political change that Vijay wanted to bring about.

Meanwhile, the principal opposition party, the AIADMK, alleged that Vijay was being fielded by the BJP to undercut the AIADMK's base.