Tamil Nadu’s ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) told the Supreme Court that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is against the basic fabric of secularism as it discriminated on the basis of religion. The party also said that the amendment is against the Tamil race as it does not bring Tamil refugees within the ambit of the law.
DMK’s organising secretary RS Bharati filed an affidavit in the apex court pleading to quash the amendment. He questioned “why Muslims were altogether excluded even in six countries wherein they suffered persecution”
“I respectfully submit that the Act introduces a completely new basis for the grant/non-grant of citizenship on the ground of religion which destroys the basis fabric of secularism. There is no reason as to why Muslims were altogether excluded even in six countries wherein they suffered persecution… I humbly submit that the Act is against Tamil race and keeps out similarly placed Tamils who are residing in Tamil Nadu from the purview of the Act,” its affidavit said.
‘CAA against Tamils’
The party said that Sri Lankan Tamils of Indian origin should also be included in CAA, citing that they also face persecution. It said the law ignores the reality of Tamil refugees and questioned the Act for not bringing Tamils, who faced religious persecution in Sri Lanka, within the ambit of the law.
“As per the statements of objects and reasons of the impugned Act, the basis for inclusion of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh was that their constitutions provided for a specific state religion due to which the religious minorities faced persecution on ground of religion. The situation in Sri Lanka is akin to the one in the above mentioned three countries as the Indian Tamils faced religious persecution as they were predominantly Hindus,” the affidavit said.
“The Centre remained silent to the plight of the Tamil refugees … step-motherly behaviour of the Centre towards Tamil refugees has left them living in a constant fear of deportation and an uncertain future,” it said.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 by providing a pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians, and arrived in India before the end of December 2014.
