Amendment of CAA aims to legalize RSS's ideology of hatred: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

KOLLAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Centre over the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said that the amendment of the act aims to legalize the ideology of hatred of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Addressing a public meeting in Kollam, the Chief Minister said, "We all know that the ideology of the RSS is hatred. Citizenship based on religion is anti-constitutional and against the idea of democracy."

"We should see it as a violation of basic principles. No government has the right to pass a law that violates the fundamental rights of citizens. Supreme Court has declared it earlier. This law is violating constitutional rights. Our constitution gives equality before law for each citizens. It is also mentioned that no person should be given special rights. Our constitution does not accept discrimination on the basis of religion," he added.

Calling the implementation of CAA a challenge against the idea of India, Vijayan said, "What is happening here? One section of the population is forced to migrate due to the peculiarities of the country. People are divided into Muslims and non-Muslims. This should not be done at any cost. Sangh Parivar has always discriminated against people on the basis of religion. The CAA has been brought in to legalize this idea of sangh parivar. This is a challenge against the idea of India."

"The National Population Register (NPR) is the first step in preparing the national register for citizenship. Since the CAA was amended, there has been an attempt to say that the census and the national register for citizenship were part of the census. Both are different," he added.

Vijayan said that the CAA is anti-constitutional and anti-human, adding that the act will not be implemented in Kerala.

"The Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, has stated many times that after the implementation of CAA, citizenship will be given to all refugees. But Muslims were excluded. After the preparation of the NRC, all encroachments should be stopped. The home minister said this in parliament more than once, and we all know who they are aiming for. Kerala House raised its voice against this. We can access the CAA, which is anti-constitutional and anti-human. A public protest was conducted in Thiruvananthapuram with the participation of old sections, including the opposition. We openly declared that the agenda will not be implemented here," he said.

"All party meetings were held, and a special assembly was held and unanimously passed the resolution against it. The chief minister had sent letters to the CMs of all non-BJP-ruling states. Kerala was the first state to come against CAA," Vijayan added.

He further said that next year, the RSS will complete 100 years of its formation. The RSS has an extreme communal agenda. They have come up with this as part of that agenda.

Vijayan also attacked the Congress, claiming they had backed out of a joint protest against the CAA.

"Congress took a stand that they wouldn't cooperate for a united protest with us after protesting together in the beginning. There should be a solid reason for the state leadership of a national party to take such a stand. We did not do anything wrong. Then what is the reason? It is clear. They were asked why they participated in a protest like this. Who asked them this question? The national leadership of Congress. Otherwise, how can this happen?" the Kerala CM said.

"The bill was passed in Parliament during the second week of December. There were protests across the country. December 10 is a date to be noted. The entire country was out on the streets, protesting. Most of our MPs are from the Congress-led UDF. Not a single Congress MP was seen in these protests. They were invited to a special dinner at the party's president's home. That was important to them. At the same time, Rahul Gandhi was abroad. The prominent Congress leader who could have participated in the protests were abroad," he added.