Sharpening its attack on the Narendra Modi government over the Citizenship Amendment Act, the DMK on Tuesday alleged the Centre's objective was not India's progress but 'trampling' the rights of Muslims.
DMK President M K Stalin called the act "hasty and autocratic" and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not fulfilling his electoral promises such as doubling farmers' income and two crore jobs per year and instead implementing measures that were 'detrimental' to the country.
Addressing a protest meeting in this temple town, about 50 km from Chennai, Stalin, also the leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, listed out abrogation of Article 370, which "stifled democracy in Kashmir," and bringing a law against triple talaq.
After these, the Centre has now passed the amendment bill in both Houses of Parliament and such aspects showed that ensuring the country's growth was not the objective of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre, he claimed.
It's "objective is trampling the (rights of) Muslims, and persecuting them," he said.
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Slamming the CAA as "hasty, autocratic, and done without due diligence," he sought to know why the Muslims and Tamil refugees of Sri Lanka were kept out of the ambit of the act.
"Why this partiality against Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils...what is the sin they committed...this is our right," he said.
While non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were embraced by the Centre, Muslims alone were left out. "What is the reason behind this and for avoiding the Sri Lankan Tamils?" he asked.
The DMK chief said his party opposed CAA since it 'divided' people on the basis of religion.
"If Hindus from other nations can come to India, my question is why the BJP-led Centre did not consider Eelam Tamils as Hindus," he asked.
Eelam meant homeland and 'Eelam Tamils,' is a reference used in Tamil Nadu to generally denote Srilankan Tamils and in this context, Stalin meant refugees in India from the island nation.
Referring to Home Minister Amit Shah's remark that Lankan Tamils had been given citizenship in the past, Stalin said such people were actually of Indian origin.
"When Indian origin Tamils' citizenship rights were usurped in Sri Lanka, they were given citizeship in India," he said adding "we are seeking citizenship for Eelam Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu for the past 30 years."
Seeking CAA's immediate withdrawal, the DMK chief alleged the Centre injected "poison," among the Indian people, who profess diverse faiths, speak many languages and yet live unitedly.
While the Citizenship Act was all about bestowing rights, the government usurped people's rights through the same legislation, he alleged.
Slamming the AIADMK for supporting the CAA, he maintained that the amendment to the Citizenship Act would not have seen the light of the day had the regional party not voted with the government in Rajya Sabha where it has 11 members.
The next course of action to oppose CAA will be decided at a meeting of DMK and its allies at Chennai on Wednesday, he said.
The DMK held protests across Tamil Nadu and also staged a joint rally with the ruling Congress, its ally, in neighbouring Puducherry against the CAA.
In Chennai, sections of students of the Madras University and The TN Dr Ambedkar Law University's School of Excellence in Law staged protests against the CAA.
Addressing the protest in Puducherry, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy claimed the CAA was a clear attempt to divide the people of the country on the basis of religion and asserted his government would not implement the act in the union territory.
"The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is having an evil design of pursuing Hindutva policy. People will not accept this... We will never implement the act in the Union Territory even if the Centre sacks my government," he added.
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