620-km human chain formed in Kerala seeking withdrawal of Citizenship Act

The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Sunday organised a 620 km-long human chain from the northern end of Kerala to the southern end on Republic Day to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and demanded a withdrawal of the Act at the earliest.

The protest, organised by the LDF, from Kasaragod district to to Kaliyakkavilai was joined by various leaders, including Communist Party of of India (Marxist) leader and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The Front, led by CPI (M), claimed that while 3 million people were expected to participate, nearly 6 million people participated in the protest.

Saying that the 620-km human chain had created history, Kerala Fiinance Minister T M Thomas Isaac on his social media account said, "The expectations were that 3 million would participate, but more than double number seem to have turned up".

Leaders and members from various political parties and religious organisations also took part in the human chain. LDF further claimed that people who were not affiliated to any political parties also joined the protest.

The State Legislative Assembly recently passed a resolution asking the Centre to scrap the CAA. Kerala was the second such state to pass resolution against the Act. The move was was backed by the ruling LDF, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) led by Indian National Congress. 

The state also approached the Supreme Court against the Act, after both the acts resulted in a tussle between Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and the state government.