DMK president M.K. Stalin on Sunday alleged that the BJP-led Central government was trying to steer people’s attention away from the real problems plaguing the country, including the state of the economy, job losses and price rise, by implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Speaking at ‘Samuthuva Christmas’, an event organised by the Christuva Nallenna Iyakkam, the DMK leader said that without the votes of the Rajya Sabha members from the AIADMK and the PMK, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill would not have been passed in the Upper House.
“The Central government is suppressing dissenting voices and creating a divide in a country known to be secular and democratic. It is a fight between equality and inequality and justice and injustice,” he said.
He added that when DMK legislator Tiruchi Siva introduced amendments to the Bill providing for the inclusion of Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils, the Centre rejected it because it did not care about inclusiveness. “It is evident that the Centre and the Edappadi K. Palaniswami-led State government are betraying the people of India. If some other country refuses to allow Indians to obtain citizenship, imagine the number of people who would lose their jobs and the number of families that would suffer,” he said.
The DMK-led Opposition rally against the CAA on Monday should be seen as a collective effort against communal discord, he said.
Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council president Antony Pappusamy said the time had come to cross religious boundaries and ensure religious tolerance. Senior Congress leader Peter Alphonse claimed that only Tamil Nadu had raised strong political dissent against the CAA, and that the public must support the country-wide movement to reject the implementation of the Act. Christuva Nallenna Iyakkam president Inigo Irudhayaraj said the Centre cannot try to curtail the rights of Christians, and they will fight for their Muslim brothers.
Member of Parliament Su. Venkatesan, DMK MLAs P. Moorthy and Saravanan, members of the city’s Jamaths and Hindu religious heads took part in the event.
