THE Narendra Modi government has planned a ‘trishul’ attack against the constitution. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Population Register and National Register of Citizens are the three points of this trishul. All three are interconnected and a single package. These cannot be separated, warned CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat while addressing a seminar organised by the Tamil Nadu Platform for People's Unity in Chennai on December 26.
After a cat-and-mouse game with the city police, the seminar against “anti-Tamil and anti-Muslim” CAA started with a packed house. Noted educationist Dawood Miakhan welcomed the gathering on behalf of the platform and said that though CAA appeared to be against Muslims, it is really an effort to change the basic tenets of the constitution.
Former union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram said that since CAB became an Act on December 11, a big churning can be seen across the country. It should be noted that it is being spearheaded by students and youth who have come out on their own disregarding the existing divisions among them on the basis of ideology, religion, caste, etc. Terming it a big opportunity before the people, Chidambaram called upon them to realise their duty at this juncture to preserve the Indian constitution.
In his speech, Karat said that to foil the BJP game plan, we must concentrate on getting the NPR scuttled. He said even those political parties who have supported the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in parliament are now saying that they would not implement NRC. But the point is, it is not enough. Kerala and West Bengal have already said that they will not undertake NPR in their states. Kerala has even issued a notification to put the NPR work on hold. At this juncture, he called upon the people of Tamil Nadu to put pressure on the AIADMK government to suspend or stop the NPR work in the state.
DMK parliamentarian Kanimozhi said that after coming back to power for the second term, unmindful of the serious economic situation, the BJP earnestly started its divisive activities. Triple Talaq, Repeal of Article 370, bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, and now CAA – all of which show that they are bent upon paving a path for Hindu Rashtra. She also said that it is unbecoming of AIADMK to desert Sri Lankan Tamils by supporting the CAB in parliament. However, the recent assembly election results show that the country is going towards a BJP-mukt Bharat, she said. 
Prof Jawahirullah, president of MNMK, said that students and youth of the country are proving once again that this nation is Gandhi's and not Godse's. He said that it is an opportune time that all political parties be united to ensure that this country is indeed Gandhi's and defeat the evil designs of BJP and the Sangh Parivar.
VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan said that CAA is against the Indian constitution. Knowing fully well of this, the home minister and BJP president Amit Shah haughtily announced that every infiltrator will be thrown out of the country. Such an attitude of BJP will take the country two millennia behind. Hence, it is necessary that everyone conscious of this imminent danger should take this message among the people and unite them against this draconian Act. 
One of the coordinators of the Platform, Prof Arunan, in his presidential address, said that as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, we are standing ashamed before the country. AIADMK of Tamil Nadu shamed us all by supporting this Act which is against all the tenets dearest to the Dravidian movement. He said that the sins of AIADMK cannot be washed off at any point of time.
G Udayakumar, another coordinator of the Platform, proposed the vote of thanks. He reminded the audience about the game played by the police in granting permission to hold the seminar in a hall. Despite all such manoeuvres by the AIADMK government to please its masters in Delhi, the people of Chennai turned up in large numbers to hear the leaders.