The Opposition-led campaign against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has received over two crore signatures, exceeding the original target of one crore, DMK president M.K. Stalin said on Saturday.
The signatures will be submitted to President Ram Nath Kovind in the coming days, he added.
“People have understood the consequences of CAA and have participated in the campaign of their own accord. Some people have ridiculed the campaign and demanded that it be banned. But it is a democratic movement,” he said while participating in the campaign in Tiruvallur.
Calling upon the Centre to repeal CAA and not to proceed with the National Population Register (NPR), Mr. Stalin said the campaign will continue till the Central government concedes to the demands of the DMK and its alliance partners.
Mr. Stalin said CAA was actually a ploy to divert the people’s attention from the government’s failure in tackling various issues, including the economic slowdown, farmer suicides and unemployment. “We consider all Indians to be equal. But the government led by Prime Minister Modi is against the idea. Today, the situation has come to such a pass that even the European Union has criticized CAA,” he said.
He alleged that CAA sought to divide people and targeted Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils, who remained refugees in Tamil Nadu. “People from Kashmir to Kanniyakumari have been subjected to untold suffering because of the Act,” he claimed.
Demanding the release of Jammu & Kashmir’s former Chief Ministers, who are under detention, Mr. Stalin said the BJP should not consider itself the sole proprietor of patriotism and portray others as enemies of the State.
“There is widespread suspicion that the BJP wants to keep Kashmir on the boil for its own political agenda,” he claimed.
