Congress-led opposition diverting attention from CAA: Kerala Law Minister

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 13 (PTI) Kerala Law Minister P Rajeev on Wednesday said the Congress-led UDF opposition is trying to divert attention from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 by bringing up the issue of criminal cases faced by those who protested against the controversial law four years ago.

Rajeev insisted that the cases were not registered on the basis of the slogans raised or the aim of the protest, but based on how people acted during the agitation.

Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan had brought up the issue yesterday. He said, "In 2019, police in the state registered 835 cases related to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Despite the chief minister's announcement to withdraw non-aggressive cases, this action has not been carried out. It raises questions about the government's stance.

"The chief minister should clarify why these cases have not been withdrawn." Minister Rajeev put the blame on the protestors. "There are some who believe in resorting to violence during a protest. The acts of such persons divert attention from the issue and also invite penal action," he said He went on to accuse the Congress of carrying out the BJP's agenda. He suggested that the criticism about cases not being withdrawn is "a BJP agenda to divert attention from various issues, and the Congress is acting as its spokesperson".

The minister also said that withdrawal of cases requires the permission of courts, which would not take into consideration the purity of the issue, but rather the actions of the protestors.

His statement came in the wake of UDF allegations that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government, which says that the CAA will not be implemented in the state, has no sincerity on the issue.

Attacking the Congress, Rajeev said that the grand old party's stance in Kerala is anti-Left, which in turn benefits the BJP.

"If they are fighting the BJP, then why should K C Venugopal and Rahul Gandhi contest from Kerala? Their focus should have been on taking away the BJP's LS seats in Karnataka and Telangana," he said.

He alleged that the Congress never opposes the BJP's policies in Kerala, and on the Citizenship Amendment Act issue they have only questioned why it is being implemented now.

"We (CPI-M) are the ones who, right from the start, opposed the legislation and moved the Supreme Court against it. We are also the ones who opposed the electoral bonds and moved the court against it," Rajeev said.

He said that the cabinet today decided to seek quashing of the CAA rules notified by the Centre.

"The Advocate General (AG) has been given the responsibility of discussing with senior lawyers in the apex court as to how we should go about it -- whether to file a fresh plea or modify the prayers in the earlier one.

"The AG, after the discussions, will inform us about the course of action to be taken," the minister said.

The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the President's assent, but there were protests in several parts of the country against it, with many opposition parties speaking out against the law, calling it "discriminatory." The law could not come into effect earlier as its rules had not been notified till now.

This act grants citizenship to undocumented migrants of all religions -- except Muslims -- from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. PTI