N S Sajith
THE election campaign in Kerala is going ahead highlighting the dangers posed by the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that has been brought in by the Modi-led BJP government to further intensify communal polarization in the country. The LDF is mobilising people to protest against the CAA as part of their election campaign. The first in a series of five Night Rallies, organised under the banner of Bharanaghatana Samrakshana Samiti (Committee for the Protection of the Constitution), started with a massive programme in Kozhikode on March 22, attended by over one lakh people and inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The second rally took place in Kanhangad, Kasargod district, on March 23. Subsequent rallies in Malappuram, Kannur, and Kollam are scheduled in the days ahead. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate these rallies, with candidates from respective constituencies participating.
Pinarayi Vijayan emphasized that the Constitution provides equal rights not only to citizens but to anyone residing in the country, and that any division based on religion contradicts its principles. He called upon the national leaders of the Congress to clarify their stance on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Has the Congress provided any response at the all India level yet? Did the party president issue any statement? The chief minister also questioned whether Rahul Gandhi made any remarks during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. He asserted that treating the Muslim community as second-class citizens will not be tolerated, emphasizing that only the Left can be relied upon in this struggle. The Kerala government is committed to leading the fight against the CAA. At the time of the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act, some people withdrew from the collective protest. The BJP and Sangh Parivar are deriding our stance, while a prominent Congress leader mocked the resolution passed in the Kerala Legislative Assembly. Among the Kerala Lok Sabha members, only A M Arif voiced opposition in the lower house, while Elamaram Karim, Binoy Vishwam, and K K Ragesh opposed the bill in the Rajya Sabha. Congress members remained silent.
Union minister Anurag Thakur's call for protesters to be shot dead sparked outrage. The CPI(M) party and its leader Brinda Karat, have approached the court against this statement. Many people, including CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s name was there in the cases filed for protesting against the CAA. However, not a single Congress member's name was included, the chief minister said. During the rally held at Kozhikode beach, CPI(M) candidates Elamaram Kareem and K K Shailaja, representing Kozhikode and Vadakara respectively, were present. M V Balakrishnan, the candidate from Kasargod, also attended the rally held in Kanhangad.
In a rally held in Malappuram on March 25, 2024, the chief minister's comments on the slogan 'Bharat mata ki jai', coined by Azimullah Khan, garnered widespread attention across the country. "Now, in some programmes, we hear certain Sangh Parivar leaders asking people to chant 'Bharat mata ki Jai'. Who coined the slogan Bharat mata ki jai? Was it some Sangh Parivar leader? I don't know if the Sangh Parivar knows this. His name is Azimullah Khan. I don't know if they know that he is not a Sangh Parivar leader," he stated. "He was the prime minister to the Maratha Peshwa Nana Saheb in the 19th century. We should know that he coined the slogan ‘Bharat mata ki jai’. I wonder if the Sangh Parivar will decide not to chant the slogan since it was formulated by a Muslim,” he added.
In response to these remarks, Prakash Javadekar, a senior BJP leader, commented that Pinarayi Vijayan views society through the lens of caste, creed, and religion!
In addition to these rallies, night marches against the CAA are being organised by the LDF in local centers under the leadership of the front's candidates. At the same time, BJP is using CAA in their campaign to spread venomous communal ideology.
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