Two prominent Sunni groups in the State have sought to legally challenge the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of India, terming it unconstitutional.
A meeting of various Muslim organisations has been scheduled on Monday to discuss the future course of action. The Sunni leaders are also planning to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon.
Functionaries of the E.K. faction of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema, led by Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal, on Sunday urged the Union government to desist from tabling the Bill in Parliament. They said the Bill was against the constitutional principles of equality and prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Representatives of secular political parties in the country should oppose the Bill, they said.
Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, leader of the A.P. faction, also opposed the Bill. He told the media that the Union government’s attempt to provide quick citizenship to migrants, except Muslims, was against the constitutional principles of equality. The Bill said that Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, and not Muslims from these countries, can be granted citizenship. This was against the spirit of secular democracy, he said.
The Bill and the NRC were aimed at destabilising Muslims in the country. He pointed out that efforts were on to “convert Muslims as new Dalits” in a new caste hierarchy.
