A 620 km long human chain comprising around 70 lakh people was formed in Kerala by the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Sunday to mark protest against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act.

The human chain stretched from Kasaragod in north to Kaliyikkavila in the south in Tamil Nadu.

As per the reports, a large number of people gathered for the human chain formation and after a trial at 3:30 pm, the chain formation began at 4 pm. At first, the Preamble of the Constitution was read out and then every participant took a pledge on the account of the CAA by the BJP-led Central government.

At the southernmost end, CPI-M Politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai was first in the chain while at the southernmost end, another Politburo member of the party MA Baby was standing.

“Kerala has always led numerous protests and also shown to the rest of the country, what very strong protests can lead to. This show has been near total and even though the leadership of the opposition is not taking part in this, numerous of their supporters have taken part and this shows that we are all one to a wrong decision of the Centre,” Baby told media.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was also standing in the chain along with his family members at Palyam in Thiruvananthapuram.

“We can really be proud that how protests can be held peacefully when the entire population unites. Today also we have seen the same being repeated in the form of a human chain. The participation has been overwhelming and the message is very clear that we do not accept CAA as this divides people based on religion. Even various countries, as well as the UN, have said that this should not happen,” he said while speaking to media.

“In Kerala, we have already made it clear that neither NPR nor NRC will happen. We cannot rest until the CAA is withdrawn,” he added.

Christian bishops, priests, nuns, Muslim clerics, film personalities, poets, writers, and numerous people from the socio-cultural fields participated in the human chain formation.

Earlier, the Kerala government had also passed a resolution in the state Assembly demanding the withdrawal of CAA and later the government also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to declare CAA as unconstitutional.