DMK chief leads the protest with a massive rally in Chennai despite the police denying permission
CHENNAI| On Monday to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, DMK chief MK Stalin came on ground. DMK chief leads the protest with a massive rally in Chennai despite the police denying permission.
Tamil Nadu: DMK and its alliance parties hold a 'mega rally' against #CitizenshipAmendmentAct, in Chennai. Congress leader P Chidambaram and MDMK's Vaiko are also participating. pic.twitter.com/ve96fUQ7k7
— ANI (@ANI) December 23, 2019
Taking note of a public interest litigation expressing apprehension over violence erupting during the proposed rally, the Madras High Court has directed the police to record it in order to fix liability in case of any damage to public or private property.
“Our protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act will happen as planned,” Mr. Stalin said. “The court refusing to stop this is a big victory for us.”
Mr. Stalin appealed earlier to several sections of society to participate in the rally as part of the ongoing efforts to make the ruling government to drop the CAA. He also alleged that the “hasty and autocratic” law was aimed more at trampling the rights of Muslims than helping any community, as claimed by the ruling BJP.
The Citizenship Amendment Act makes it easier for non-Muslims from three neighboring countries Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to become Indian nationals. While opposition parties and rights activists have termed it as a law that discriminates along religious lines, many southern politicians have also slammed the centre for not extending the benefit to Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka.
Mr. Stalin has also criticized the ruling AIADMK, saying that the controversial law would not have cleared the Rajya Sabha if its members had not voted for it. “The Citizenship Amendment Bill got 125 votes in support and 105 against. If the AIADMK had voted against the legislation, it would have been defeated 116 to 114 in the Rajya Sabha and the central government would not have succeeded in throwing the country into chaos,” he added.
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan has already filed a petition against the law in the Supreme Court. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswami, however, insisted that the Citizenship Amendment Act poses no danger to Muslims. “We are committed to protecting minorities. Don’t believe rumors that the amended law will affect the citizenship of Indian Muslims. We will continue to press for dual citizenship for Lankan Tamils living in India,” he said.
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The Citizenship Amendment Act for the first time makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim dominated countries to get citizenship if they fled to India because of religious persecution. Critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principles of the constitution.
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