Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin on CAA: 'BJP exploiting religious sentiments for political gains'

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin on Monday said implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, four years after it was passed in Parliament, is "attempt" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “salvage his sinking ship” by exploiting religious sentiments for political gains.

Stalin, who had in January declared that CAA will not be implemented in Tamil Nadu, also accused the AIADMK, whom he termed as a “BJP stooge”, of supporting the legislation in Parliament despite opposition from parties like Congress and DMK.

“Now, as elections loom, Prime Minister Modi seeks to salvage his sinking ship by cynically resurrecting Citizenship Amendment Act, exploiting religious sentiments for political gain,” Stalin said in a statement here. 

He added that the people of the country will never forgive the BJP for unleashing this “divisive Citizenship Amendment Act and their spineless lackeys, the ADMK, who shamelessly supported it.”

“People will teach them a befitting lesson,” Stalin added. 

The DMK president said the BJP Government's divisive agenda has weaponised the Citizenship Act, turning it from a beacon of humanity to a tool of discrimination based on religion and race through the enactment of CAA. 

“By betraying Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils, they sowed seeds of division,” he added. 

Stalin recalled that the DMK after coming to power in 2021 had passed a resolution in the Tamil Nadu y urging the Union Government to repeal the CAA to safeguard the unity of our nation, uphold social harmony, and protect the ideal of secularism enshrined in India’s constitution.