Kerala Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had moved a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in state Assembly, demanding the withdrawal of the contentious act.

While presenting the resolution, Vijayan said the CAA was against the “secular” outlook and fabric of the country and would lead to religion-based discrimination in granting citizenship.

“The Act contradicts the basic values and principles of the Constitution. In view of the anxiety among the people of the country, the Centre should take steps to drop the CAA and uphold the secular outlook of the Constitution,” he said.

Noting that the Act had triggered widespread protests among various sections of society, the chief minister said it had dented India’s image in front of the international community.

The Kerala Chief Minister also assured the Assembly that no detention centres will come up in the state.

CM Vijayan, in his address, stated that Kerala “has a tradition of inclusiveness” and that it needs to be kept alive.

“Kerala has a long history of secularism; Greeks, Romans, Arabs, everyone reached our land. Christians and Muslims reached Kerala in the very beginning. Our tradition is of inclusiveness. Our assembly needs to keep the tradition alive,” he said.

CPI(M) MLA James Mathew backed the resolution moved by the CM against Citizenship Amendment Act in Assembly.

Congress’ VD Satheesan also extended his support to the resolution stating that “NRC and CAA are two sides of the same coin”. He further asserted that “CAA is a clear violation of Article 13, 14 and 15 of the Constitution”.

CPI’s C Divakaran, who also backed the resolution moved by Pinarayi Vijayan, said that the state Assembly is forced to move such a resolution as India is witnessing a series of protests that no one has witnessed in the past.

“By moving this resolution, Kerala Assembly is sending out a message to the world,” he added.

However, BJP MLA O Rajagopal opposed the resolution moved by the Chief Minister saying that “it shows the narrow political mindset”.

This comes as the opposition Congress-led UDF had demanded the Left government to convene a special session and pass a resolution against the CAA during an all-party meeting convened by the Chief Minister on December 29 to discuss the issue.

States of West Bengal, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Chhattisgarh have announced that they will not implement either the National Register of Citizens (NRC) or the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet has approved Rs 8,500 crore for updating the National Population Register (NPR), which is said to be the first step in implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

With the ongoing debate over NPR and NRC, the Congress has accused the BJP government of bringing the NRC in the garb of the NPR and claimed that questions related to the NRC will be asked in the pre-test forms for the NPR.

West Bengal and Kerala are the only two states which have stopped the NPR procedures since they believe it is the first step for the contentious NRC.