CAA: Pinarayi Vijayan writes to Amit Shah, seeks help to stop attacks on Kerala students

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on December 19 wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah seeking help to stop attacks on students.

Pinarayi Vijayan, in a letter to Shah, said families and parents of students from Kerala studying in Delhi are concerned and anxious over their safety.

"I wish to bring to your kind attention to the state of anxiety of the parents and relatives of the students and of the government of Kerala in this regard," Pinarayi Vijayan said. During the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the media has reported that certain groups have resorted to physical violence against the students, he said. "I request your kind intervention so that urgent necessary steps are taken to prevent such attacks against the students," Pinarayi Vijayan added.

Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier said that Kerala would not accept the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), citing it as "unconstitutional". With this, Pinarayi Vijayan is following in the footsteps of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who also resisted implementing CAB in West Bengal.

"Our democracy is in danger. With CAB, Sangh Parivar has used the majority they enjoy in the Parliament to uproot the bedrock of Indian democracy and Constitution. It's a rejection of secularism. BJP has made it clear that their main political plank is communalism. We must resist," tweeted Vijayan. He further said CAB is a move to sabotage equality and secularism.

A day after CAB Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha, Vijayan had said that the Bill is an "attack on the secular and democratic character of India". Lok Sabha passed the CAB on December 9 and the Rajya Sabha passed it on December 11.

• Pinarayi Vijayan
• Amit Shah
• CAA
• Delhi