CAB unconstitutional, Kerala will not accept it: CM Vijayan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, is unconstitutional and Kerala will not accept it, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday.

The Chief Minister accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of trying to divide the country on religious lines.

"Kerala will not accept the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. It is unconstitutional. The central government is trying to divide India on religious lines," he said.

He termed the passage of the Bill from Parliament as a move to sabotage secular values enshrined in the Constitution of India. "This is a move to sabotage equality and secularism," Vijayan alleged.

The Bill has been passed by Parliament, with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod on Wednesday night.

On Monday, Lok Sabha had approved the Bill which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Meanwhile, protests have erupted in large part of the Northeast against the Bill.