Superstar Rajinikanth, on Wednesday, throwing his weight behind the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) asserted that the contentious law does not pose any threat to any citizen of the country including Muslims.
In his first reaction after the amendment to the Citizenship Act and nationwide protests against it, the south Indian actor wondered how Muslims who chose to stay back in India following Partition can be sent out of the country.
“Citizenship Amendment Act will not affect any citizen of our country. The CAA is no threat to Muslims. If they face trouble, I will be the first person to raise voice for them,” he said.
“How will Muslims who chose to stay back in India following Partition be sent out of the country?” he added.
He noted that the Central government has assured that Indian people will have no issues in view of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Alleging that some political parties were instigating people against CAA for their selfish interests, he also blamed religious leaders for supporting protests against the law and dubbed it “very wrong.”
Rajinikanth also termed the National Population Register (NPR) as “very, very essential” for the country. He said that NPR is a “necessity” to find out about the outsiders adding that the Congress-led government had done it in the past.
On the National Register of Citizens, the megastar said that the government had clarified that NRC has not been formulated yet.
The Government has “not taken any decision yet to prepare” a National Register of Citizens (NRC) at the national level, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
The clarification is seen as an effort by the BJP government at the Centre to defuse anger and protests over the NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that has erupted over the past two months.
Meanwhile, Rajinikanth has been in news recently over his controversial remark against ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy, founder of Dravidar Kazhagam. He had also refused to express regret or apologize over his speech at Thuglak magazine’s 50th-anniversary event in Chennai on January 15.
Accused of ‘defaming” Periyar by a police complaint filed by a Dravidian outfit, Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, protestors had gathered outside his residence.
Rajinikanth’s political debut is expected before the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in 2021.