More than 15,000 people attended the ‘Citizenship Protection Conference’ organised by the Tamil Nadu Platform for People's Unity, an anti-communal platform, in Chennai on February 26. The conference demanded the central government to withdraw the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) and also sought the state government not to implement the discriminatory Act.

Leader of the opposition and president of the DMK Party, MK Stalin, addressed the gathering and said that the entire country is fighting to protect citizenship rights even as its people are gripped by fear. Talking about the recent riots in New Delhi, he said that the national capital has gone into the hands of the rioters. “What is the home minister doing now? This is a failure to protect the law and order situation in Delhi,” he said. He said that the opposition parties are not instigating the struggle against the CAA but are standing united to protect the integrity of India and the unity of its people.

“CAA is a people’s issue. Normally, the government should enact laws to protect the citizenship rights of the people. But this government is enacting laws to snatch away the citizenship of the citizens,” he lamented. He said that the people are anxious that the CAA, NPR and NRC would affect them grievously and that the government is failing to alleviate their fears.

He reminded that, of the 19 lakh people who have been stripped off their citizenship, 13 lakh were Hindus. “They say that the NPR would only affect the Muslims and that the Hindus should not bother about this Act. This is not correct,” Stalin said.

“They want to pit us against Hindus. We oppose only the Hindutva ideology and not those who have faith in the Hindu religion,” he said and appealed to the government not to divide the people on religious lines.

Stalin said that chief minister Palaniswami is claiming that the NPR would not affect anyone but is also writing to the central government highlighting concerns over the questions asked in the NPR survey. “It means he himself is accepting that there is a danger in NPR. He must openly declare that he would not allow NPR in Tamil Nadu and should pass a resolution in the assembly that the CAA, NPR and NRC will not be implemented in the state,” he said.

K Balakrishnan, CPI(M) state secretary said that for the first time ever in the history of the country, Muslim women were coming on the streets and fighting as brave warriors against the CAA. “The BJP government is trying to divide people on the basis of religion saying that this would affect only Muslims and not Hindus. If NPR and NRC come into force, dalits, OBCs, tribals etc, irrespective of the religion would be affected,” he warned.

“The women agitating at Washermenpet and Shaheen Bagh are not doing so for themselves alone but to protect the interest of all Indians. The Kerala government showed the way to India by enacting a resolution in the assembly opposing this Act,” he noted. He said that the Supreme Court is now asking whether the police in Delhi, who are under the control of Amit Shah, are doing their duty to protect the citizens or not. “The police have failed in their duty resulting in the deaths of more than 40 people in the riots,” he said.

K Balakrishnan said that while H Raja, national secretary of the BJP, threatened the anti-CAA protestors in Tamil Nadu that they would be attacked with arms as was done in Delhi, the state government acted as silent spectator. “H Raja wants to destroy peace in Tamil Nadu. While the government has arrested Nellai Kannan in midnight and sent him to jail, why has it not arrested Raja who instigated blatant violence in the state?” he asked.

Prajapati Adigalar, a Hindu priest who is threatened by the Hindu communal forces, said that the Tamil people will retaliate if anything happens to him, even so much as to touch him. “Even the Nitish Kumar government had declared that it would not implement NPR but the Edappadi government is so scared of opposing the Modi government that it did not pass any resolution in the assembly. If it is implemented, then no one can stop Tamil Nadu from becoming a battlefield,” he cautioned the government.

He reminded the gathering of how Tipu Sultan was shocked to see the Travancore government implementing a law which prohibited the lower caste women from clothing their upper body and warned the government to repeal the law.

The Hindu group chairman N Ram said that Muslim women have come out magnificently to fight against the draconian law. “This is the civil disobedience movement of the country. The happenings in Delhi are very unfortunate. It is because of the irresponsible acts of the rulers at the centre. The upsurge in the country has not been seen before many decades,” he said.

“The CAA is totally unconstitutional. The BJP election manifesto clearly put forward the demand of NRC. They are now implementing this unconstitutional act,” N Ram said. He appealed to actor-turned-politician Rajnikanth, who assured that he would protect the Muslims if anyone is affected, to come forward and protect the Muslims affected in Delhi.

V Narayanasamy, chief minister of Puducherry, addressed the gathering and said that the BJP is attacking the Muslims with a motive to gain power. He said that the BJP is dividing people on communal lines. He also accused the AIADMK government for supporting this bill in Rajya Sabha and destroying the unity and integrity of the nation.

Narayanasamy commended Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of Kerala, who passed a resolution in the assembly and also filed a case in the Supreme Court opposing the Act. “The Puducherry government also passed a resolution in the assembly opposing CAA as directed by our leader Sonia Gandhi. The NR Congress and ADMK opposed the resolution vehemently. Even if we lose our government, we were not afraid of passing a resolution in the assembly,” he said.

PA Kaja Moideen Bagavi, a Muslim Imam, said that India was ruled by Muslims, Christians, Dutch and Portuguese rulers but they did not focus on changing the religion of the people.  “When there was an earthquake in Gujarat and floods in Chennai, Muslims collected money and materials and helped their Hindu brethren. The countries which wanted to implement the citizenship laws were a divided lot in history. The people are fighting this draconian Act peacefully. But in Delhi, the goons led by the ruling party, attacked the Muslims with lathis and bullets,” he said.

Bishop Devasahayam said that the second independence struggle had begun and reminded the audience that those ruling the country today have never participated in the Indian independence movement. India is a country of pluralism and it should be protected, he emphasised.

Arunan, coordinator of the platform, said that the AIADMK government is giving false hope to the Sri Lankan Tamils that they would be given double citizenship. “It is a ridiculous thing to promise to those who do not even have single citizenship. Can we stop Indians going abroad to America and Dubai for jobs?  How can we deny citizenship for Muslims who love this country so much?” he asked.