AIADMK 'disloyal' to Sri Lankans, Tamilians as they backed CAA: Stalin

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin on Tuesday said that the Edapaddi K. Palswami-led government in the state are "disloyal" to Sri Lankan and Tamil people here.

He asserted that since the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) lawmakers supported the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Parliament and voted in its favour, they have broken the trust of the people in the state.

"The ruling Edapaddi government is disloyal to the Sri Lankan and Tamil people. AIADMK MPs voted in support of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which is the reason that the whole country is burning now. So, we are protesting against it," Stalin said at an event here.

Lambasting at both the Centre and state government, Stalin asked, "Are Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils not citizens of India?"

The DMK staged protests all over the state on Tuesday against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) with Stalin present in Kanchipuram and party lawmaker Kmozhi in Chennai.

Stalin said that after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (CAB) was passed by the Parliament, the DMK youth wing staged a protest all over the state in which many party workers were detained by the police.

Continuing his tirade against the central government, the DMK chief said, "BJP won the 2014 elections and again in 2019 with a huge mandate which shows the trust of people. But they are not bothered about India. The economy is at its worst and there are no jobs for the youth in the country."

Stalin asserted that during campaigning for elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the BJP government will generate two crore jobs every year and work towards the upliftment of the poverty-stricken farmers but "none fo the promises were fulfilled".

The DMK president added that while presenting the CAB in the Parliament, Home Minister Amit Shah stated wrong facts regarding giving citizenship to the Sri Lankan Tamils.

"While reading the bill Amit Shah said -- 4.61 lakh Sri Lankans got citizenship earlier and said 1.50 lakh people have requested for citizenship in which 75,000 people have been granted citizenship which is totally wrong," Stalin said.

"People from Pakistan, Afghstan are accepted but not Muslims in your own country. After passing CAA, BJP has shown that it is not only against Muslims but against Sri Lankan Tamils," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )