India’s Grand Mufti and All India Jamiyyathul Ulama general secretary Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar has warned that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) passed by Parliament will uproot Muslims across the country.
“No Government has any right to disrupt the fundamental values of India,” the Musliar said while inaugurating a mega civil rights conference organised by the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham here on Friday.
Secular ethos violated
“The Act is in gross violation of the secular and democratic ethos envisaged in the Constitution,” he said, adding the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the supreme body of Sunni scholars in the State, would challenge the Act in the Supreme Court.
The Act was an egregious violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which ensures equality for all before the law. “India is constitutionally not a religious state, and citizenship should not be granted on the basis of religion,” he said, calling upon the people not to permit the country to transform from democracy to tyranny.
BJP criticised
The Grand Mufti described the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government’s move as an attempt to eradicate the Muslim identity in a phased manner from the nation’s mainstream.
“We want the Central government to reconsider the Act.” He said the people, irrespective of their religion, should stand up against the Act which shamed India in front of the world.
Islamic scholar Syed Thwaha Thangal presided over the function.
Syed Ali Bafaqi Thangal led the opening prayer.
