The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is the first step towards realising the RSS' agenda of establishing a religious state, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, reiterating that the southern state will not implement the unconstitutional law. Addressing a joint protest by the ruling CPM-led LDF and the opposition Congress-led UDF against the CAA, Pinarayi said Kerala was standing united in the protest showing a model to the world.
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“All of us have a single voice—protect secularism,” the chief minister said. “Those who took part in the freedom struggle dreamt of ousting imperial forces, despite their diverse views. The British tried to weaken the struggle by dividing the fighters in the name of religions. We could overcome all those challenges. That's how we emerged as a secular country. The Constitution was formed on the basis of the values of the freedom struggle. Any attempt to challenge the constitution have to be opposed,” he said.
“The basis of our unity is the vision that India should not be made a religious state,” he said. “Our country is facing a serious crisis. This has been created deliberately by the central government,” he said. Citing the Articles 13 and 14, Pinarayi said CAA is absolutely against Constitution. “When the basis of citizenship becomes religion, a country becomes a religious state,” he said. Mentioning the criminalisation of triple talaq and abrogation of Article 370, that granted special status to the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, Pinarayi said the CAA is a continuation of the BJP government's agenda of targeting Muslims.
Pinarayi said those who reduce citizenship issue as an issue of a particular religion was helping the RSS. Echoing Pinarayi's views on the CAA, leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala said he has moved a petition challenging the Act. “This is the first time a government has brought in a law dividing people of India as Muslims and non-Muslims,” he said. “RSS and Sangh Parivar are deliberately trying to make India a Hindu rashtra,” he said, calling for a secular collective. Several leaders of the LDF and UDF attended the meet.
