Amid the outrage over Citizenship Amendment Bill, Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that their state will not accept the legislation and termed it ‘unconstitutional’.
He said, “Citizenship Amendment Bill is unconstitutional. The central government is trying to divide India on religious lines. This is a move to sabotage equality and secularism.”
The Citizenship Amendment bill has been passed in both the houses (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) in the parliament and now awaits a nod from the President for the law to be implemented.
The Bill seeks to declare Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zorastrian, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan eligible for citizenship who came to India before December 31, 2014. Although the Bill only carries the provision of citizenship for the non-muslim population that arrived from the neighboring nations.
The bill is being vehemently opposed by various political outfits and student organizations in North-eastern states.