Kasaragod: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is making the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) a major poll plank against the Congress in Kerala, is either suffering from Alzheimer's or a political cataract, said Congress MP from Kasaragod Rajmohan Unnithan.

Congress MPs not only voted against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament but tore the bill and threw it in the face of the Speaker in Lok Sabha, said Unnithan. "I was among the MPs who were suspended by the Speaker for our strong protest inside the Parliament. We tore the bill and threw it at the face of the Speaker. The Chief Minister must be either suffering from Alzheimer's or political cataract if he has to go around saying Congress MPs kept mum in Parliament," said Unnithan. "Later, we held a 24-hour hunger strike before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Parliament," he said.

Unnithan was among Congress Lok Sabha members Gaurav Gogoi, T N PRathapan, Dean Kuriakose, Manicka Tagore, Benny Behanan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla who were suspended in March 2020 during the debate on the riots against the protesters of CAA. 

Unnithan said that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) backed the resolution brought by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Kerala Assembly. "Remember, the resolution was passed unanimously even though citizenship is a subject of the Union government," he said.

The CAA seeks to expedite the citizenship applications of refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, provided they are Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians. The law not only explicitly excludes Muslims, the single largest group of applicants, but also makes religion a criterion for citizenship.

The CPM is now raising the issue of CAA by pegging the law as anti-Muslim, said Unnithan. "It is trying to polarise voters on communal lines and make electoral gains. The CAA is not anti-Muslim. It is anti-Constitution and that is why the UDF is opposing it," he said.

If Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was sincere in his opposition to CAA, the least he could do was withdraw the cases he registered against the people who hit the streets protesting against the Act in 2019 and 2020. "We can understand if the cases were registered by the Union government. If he is sincere he should withdraw the cases. Protesters are running from pillar to post in the courts trying to get the cases withdrawn," he said. Many had to pay lakhs of rupees as fine, he said.

To be sure, Kerala police registered 835 cases against protesters of CAA in Kerala in 2019. The Chief Minister told Wandoor MLA A P Anil Kumar that 63 cases were withdrawn. Pinarayi Vijayan also told the Assembly that the police submitted a charge sheet in 537 cases. 

Unnithan asked if the Congress were in favour of the CAA, as claimed by the Chief Minister, why was the CPM aligning with the Congress outside Kerala.