On Thursday, the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while maintaining his stance on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act said that the CAA will not be implemented in the state.
While addressing the public in a virtual inauguration ceremony, Vijayan said “CAA will not be implemented in Kerala.”
This is the left government’s stand which we have made clear from the beginning,” he added.
In India, citizenship was never decided based on religion, he said.
“Belonging to one religion is not a criterion for citizenship here; people have a right to believe in any religion or live without believing in any religion,” he said.
He slammed the BJP-led central government for CAA and said, “Central government has brought in the Citizenship Amendment Act which can distinguish people on the basis of a particular religion and affect even their citizenship.”
The CAA invited a large number of protests from all over India, while the central government remained adamant on implementing it.
“The left front has always taken a clear and strong stand in such issues. We clearly said that we are not ready to implement the citizenship act. Many made fun of us and asked how can a state not implement a rule passed by the centre but the stand we took then, are taking now and will take tomorrow is that the Citizenship Amendment Act will not be implemented here,” Vijayan said.