Kerala Guv under fire from UDF for supporting CAA

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan came under attack from Congress-led UDF on Sunday for reportedly supporting the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, with the Opposition alleging he has stooped to the level of a BJP spokesperson.

The Governor, like the BJP, was trying to present a "distorted" version of history, the opposition front said referring to his speech at the Nehru Museum Memorial and Library in New Delhi on Saturday.

Speaking on the topic of "Citizenship institutional and civilizational," Khan had said the Congress had "committed itself in 1947 to accept" the people who have already fled Pakistan and who are likely to flee because their lives and honour were in danger.

"It is unfortunate that the Governor who holds the high constitutional post has stooped to the level of a BJP spokesman,"Congress parliamentary party deputy leader in the Kerala Assembly, K C Joseph, said in a statement.

The Governor, like the BJP, is trying to present a "distorted" version of history, he said, a day after Khan said in the programme, justifying CAA and indirectly blaming the Congress for protesting the law meant to provide citizenship to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"The governor's finding that CAA had been the creation of the Congress is absolutely baseless", Joseph said.

He said the Congress had never decided to determine citizenship of a person in the name of his religion.

Hitting out at the Governor, former state Congress Chief V M Sudheeran accused him of working like PRO of the Central government.

The Governor is taking efforts to whitewash the CAA, a "mad decision" taken by the Centre, he said.

The senior Congress leader urged the Governor to desist from directly or indirectly justifying the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Otherwise, the Governor will lose the acceptance he receives from Kerala society, he said in a statement.

IUML state general secretary K P A Majeed condemned the statement of the Governor, terming it "very bad."