The ongoing anti-CAA protests across Tamil Nadu are evidence of strong feeling against the discriminatory law in the State, as in many States. The protesters want the Edappadi Palaniswami government to pass a resolution against the CAA in the State Assembly so as to exert pressure on the Narendra Modi government to repeal the law that links citizenship to religion, and restore equality of religions. People do not take to the streets braving scorching heat if they are not fully convinced of the rightness of their cause.
Chief Minister Palaniswami has stated that the CAA does not affect anyone, betraying a lack of understanding of what it portends for India’s principal religious minority — the Muslims. Of course he can draw comfort from the fact that he and superstar Rajinikanth are on the same page on the issue. His assurance that his party and government will shield the Muslims cannot be taken at face value for the simple fact that they will be impotent to do anything about it when CAA is enforced. His argument that the Opposition is misleading the people is specious, if anything.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cannot be said to be less sophisticated and objective than Palaniswami to say that the ‘CAA will render a large number of Muslims stateless’. The mention of six religions and the omission of one religion do not befit the all-embracing character of Indian democracy nurtured by the Constitution drafted by India’s best political genius B.R.Ambedkar. Clearly, Mr. Palaniswami is toing the line of the Modi government. There is a general public perception that the AIADMK government is subservient to the BJP government as its continuance in power hinges on its singing from the latter’s hymn-book.
Mr. Palaniswami’s claim that AIADMK is a pro-minority party is belied by its stance on CAA. The party voted for the enactment of CAA, crucially in Rajya Sabha. Tamil Nadu is the only non-BJP ruled State where peaceful anti-CAA protesters were brutally lathi-charged. By sending a memorandum against the CAA with two crore signatures to the President, DMK has proved its credentials as a defender of rights of religious minorities. The least the State government can do is to remember the commitment to secularism of Periyar, Anna and MGR and accede to the demand for an anti-CAA resolution in the Assembly, failing which history will judge it harshly.
G. David Milton
Maruthancode, Kanyakumari-Dt
