Tamil Nadu BJP state president Annamalai addressed reporters in Chennai, shedding light on various aspects of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and citizenship-related issues. Explaining the law, he said, “The countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have declared themselves as Islamic Republics. In these countries, the religious minorities – Hindus, Christians, Jains, Parsis, Sikhs, and Buddhists face religious persecution and enter India as refugees. As per the CAA passed in 2019, these people who have been living in refugee camps will now be given citizenship. As far as India is concerned, we are not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refuge 1951 and 1967. Those who come to India as refugees will not come under UN law. We follow Principle of Non Refoulement. We will not send them back, we will allow them to stay here until the crisis is over in their country. This is India’s policy. If they want citizenship, they must have lived 11 out of 14 years in the country. But what the CAA 2019 says is that those who were here before 31 December 2014 from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, don’t need to wait for 14 years, 5 years is enough. We are following a procedure to give them citizenship. In 2005, OCI card was given to those Indians in Pakistan and Bangladesh.”
Annamalai highlighted that political parties in Tamil Nadu are discussing the CAA without a comprehensive understanding of its provisions. Annamalai clarified that India follows the Principle of non-refoulement, assuring refuge to those facing crises until conditions improve in their home countries.
With regard to Sri Lankan Tamils, he said, “Our stance with regard to the Sri Lankan refugees is that in 1986, our Home ministry put out a standing order, a GO. The TN govt follows that. What it says is that those who have come to India as refugees from SL, India will not follow the 1951 and 1967 Refugee laws put forth by the UN. We follow Principle of non refoulement. When the crisis was over in SL, it was decided in 1986 that they would return to their country. They have been given citizenship beyond this also. We are insisting that normalcy be brought back to Sri Lanka. Sinhalese Tamils who have stayed here for 11 years have been granted citizenship. Those who came to Tamil Nadu during the war were also given citizenship.”
When asked about the Sri Lankan refugees again, he said, “Sri Lanka is not a Sinhalese republic. PM Modi has been strongly speaking for the implementation of the 13th Amendment. If it is implemented, the whole problem will be solved. Tamilians in Jaffna are happy, yes there are problems. Unless a country does not declare that it is of a specific religion, how can we apply CAA for them.”
Annamalai stated that 4,05,000 people are refugees in India as of 2022 data compared to 198665 refugees in 2014. One of the requirements of the CAA is that they must speak one of the 22 languages spoken in the country. Annamalai mentioned that 31 districts in nine states, including Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi, have been authorized to implement the CAA. He also revealed that 1,414 people have been granted citizenship since 2019, emphasizing that the CAA is not against any specific community, including Muslims.
Annamalai accused Tamil Nadu political parties of creating confusion and diversion on the citizenship issue for political gains. Annamalai emphasized that the power to grant citizenship rests solely with the Central Government, and states cannot influence this process. He questioned if TN Chief Minister MK Stalin had any idea about the Constitution for making such blatantly ignorant statements.
He also challenged political opponents to pinpoint specific concerns in the 39-page document released, asserting that there is no harm to any community, including Muslims.
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