Power Of The Masses: Close To Two Lakh People Come Together On The Streets Of Kerala To Protest CAA

On January 1, close to two lakh people walked the roads of Kochi protesting the argumentative Citizenship Amendment Act heeding the call by several Muslim organisations.

The rally culminated at the Marine Drive in Kochi in the evening, where leaders of 13 Muslim organisations addressed a crowd of protesters to demand the withdrawal of the controversial legislation.

At a time when India is gripped under nationwide protests against the CAA that has been termed as ¡°unconstitutional¡± and ¡°unsecular¡±, some state governments have resolved to not implement it in their state.

Leading the way, on December 31, Kerala Assembly passed a resolution demanding the scrapping of the controversial CAA.

The resolution was moved by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the state assembly.

Although a one-day special session was convened to ratify the extension of the reservation for SC and ST in the Assembly and the Parliament for another decade, the resolution against CAA was also taken up in wake of widespread concerns among the public in this regard.

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While presenting the resolution, CM Vijayan said the CAA was against the ¡°secular¡± outlook and the fabric of the country and would lead to religion-based discrimination in granting citizenship.

"The Act contradicts the basic values and principles of the Constitution. In view of the anxiety among the people of the country, Centre should take steps to drop the CAA and uphold the secular outlook of the Constitution,¡± he said.

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He added that the widespread protests across the country have tarnished India¡¯s image internationally.

The ruling CPI(M)-LDF and the Opposition Congress-led UDF supported the resolution while BJP's lone MLA and former Union minister O Rajagopal's was the only dissenting the voice in the one-day special session.