The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the main Opposition party in Tamil Nadu, has moved the Supreme Court against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, saying it is a deliberate ploy to “demonise and marginalise” Muslims and distract public attention from the “extreme administrative incompetence” of the government.
The writ petition, among the 59 the top court agreed to hear, said the Act is indifferent to Tamils who had fled Sri Lanka and have been staying in India for decades. By concentrating the benefits of citizenship on six minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the government has turned a blind eye to the Sri Lankan Tamils’ plight. “There was no reason to keep them out of the benefits derived from the Act,” it contended.
“The Act is a classic example of spewing venom against one section of the human race by targeting the Muslim community and letting down Tamils who have come from a neighbouring country as refugees,” the petition said.
It said the Act creates an unreasonable classification on the basis of religion and geography. There is no rational nexus between the classification made and the objective the Act seeks to achieve.
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