Ahead of a rally planned by the DMK and its allies in Chennai on Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami appealed to people not to believe in rumours around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA).
According to a report in The Hindu, the Chief Minister issued a statement on Sunday, which said that the AIADMK was walking on the path laid out by former Chief Ministers MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa and has always determined to protect minorities from any harm. According to the statement, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act did not affect the existing citizens of the country, but someone was spreading rumours among the Muslims in the state that it would strip them off their citizenships.
Emphasising that the AIADMK MPs had raised the demand of providing dual citizenship to the Tamils from Sri Lanka living in the state, in line with the demand of Jayalalithaa, Edappadi Palaniswami said that he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in person recently to highlight the demand. He stated that his government would remain firm on the demand of dual citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamils. The AIADMK had voted for CAB in both Houses of Parliament.
Appealing to the people of Tamil Nadu to remain calm and maintain peace, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami requested them to not fall for false propaganda around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Edappadi Palaniswami's statement comes on the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Ramlila Maidan stating that there has been no discussion around the National Register of Citizens (NRC). He said, "Those who are crying about papers and documents, they are misleading Muslims." However, the Prime Minister was disregarding repeated statements made by Home Minister Amit Shah's about the implementation of National Register of Citizens. In fact, on November 20, Home Minister Amit Shah had told Parliament that NRC will be implemented across the country.
Meanwhile, the Madras High Court, late on Sunday evening, refused to grant a stay on the anti-CAA rally scheduled by the DMK in Chennai on Monday. Stating that protests cannot be stifled in a democracy, Justice S Vaidyanathan and Justice PT Asha directed the government and the police to use drones and videograph any rally taken out without requisite permission. The judges also stated that police action can be taken against any rally conducted without police permission.