'Kerala will not implement CAA': CM Pinarayi Vijayan reiterates his govt's stance

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that his Left Democratic Front (LDF) government would not implement the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the state.

Addressing an event at the first anniversary celebrations of his government, CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said, "The government has a clear position on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). That will continue... our country works on the principle of secularism as mentioned in the Constitution of India. Nowadays, attempts are being made to destroy secularism. A certain group of people are greatly concerned about this. In a recent incident, a group of people were determining citizenship on the basis of religion. Kerala government has taken a firm stand against this incident."

"Several surveys are being conducted in different parts of the country to create communal tension among people. But here, a survey has been completed to identify the most impoverished families in our society. Further steps will be taken as part of this survey," CM Vijayan said. Reiterating that Kerala would not implement CAA, Vijayan said, "The State government has taken a firm stand that citizenship would not be determined based on religion."

Congress urges Amit Shah to withdraw CAA

Earlier on May 11, the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had written to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging him to withdraw the CAA in the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament. Chowdhury cited reports of 800 Pakistani Hindus who were forced to return to their country as they failed to secure Indian citizenship. Speaking about CAA, the Congress MP has termed that the "ill-thought-out legislation" could not be implemented for two years as it is unconstitutional.

It is pertinent to mention that during his recent visit to West Bengal, Amit Shah on May 5 assured that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would be brought after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. "I would like to say that we'll implement CAA on the ground the moment the COVID-19 wave ends... CAA was, is and will be a reality," said Amit Shah 

Notably, the CAA which was passed by Parliament on 11 December 2019, seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they shall not be considered illegal migrants. Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 5 years.