Pinarayi Vijayan
Pinarayi Vijayan Image Credit: Twitter/ANI

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday moved a resolution against contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in state Assembly, demanding the withdrawal of the new law.

"Kerala has a long history of secularism. Greeks, Romans, Arabs everyone reached our land. Christian and Muslim religions reached Kerala in the very beginning itself. Our assembly needs to keep the tradition alive. Our tradition is of inclusiveness. Our assembly needs to keep the tradition alive," Vijayan said while moving the resolution.

He also affirmed that no detention centres will be made in Kerala for illegal immigrants.

"I want to make it clear that no detention centres will come up in Kerala," the Chief Minister asserted.

Earlier this month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had clarified that there is no connection between the detention centre and National Register of Citizens (NRC) or Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"There is no connection between the detention centre and NRC or CAA. The centre has been there for years and is for illegal migrants. Misinformation is being spread on this," said Shah while speaking to ANI.

On December 29, an all-party meeting was called by Vijayan over the Citizenship law, in which the opposition demanded a special session of the Legislative Assembly, a joint delegation to meet the President, legal fight in the Supreme Court and protests on the ground against the Act.

The new law grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.