Tamil Nadu Govt Passes Resolution Against CAA, Says Centre Betrayed Sri Lankan Refugees

The Chief Minister also alleged the Act is separating refugees based on their religion instead of accepting them in the country and the proposed move is against the secularism of the country.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin passed a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 at the state Assembly with the support of MLAs of DMK and allied parties on Wednesday. Speaking at the Assembly before passing the resolution, MK Stalin said, “Sri Lankan Tamils who were unable to reside in their home countries have come to Tamil Nadu and are residing in rehabilitation centres. However, the CAA is curbing the rights of those refugees who do not want to go back to their country and instead get citizenship in India.”

“More than the Union government failing to take the consensus of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, the Centre is only betraying the SL refugees. That’s why we are opposing this Amendment. The new Act is also against the constitution of the country,” he said. 

The Chief Minister also alleged the Act is separating refugees based on their religion instead of accepting them in the country and the proposed move is against the secularism of the country.

However, before passing the motion, the BJP MLAs walked out of the Assembly as an opposition to the resolution of the DMK-led government. The AIADMK, an ally of BJP, also staged a walkout but the Opposition Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami responding to the press before Assembly spoke only about the Jayalalithaa University controversy and that the party MLAs were not given time to speak in the Assembly. The AIADMK did not mention anything about the resolution against CAA now. 

The CAA was passed in 2019 and the new law fast-tracks the citizenship of non-Muslim minorties including Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communties from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.