According to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) the Citizenship (amendment) Act of 2019 is “arbitrary” as it only considers religious minorities from three countries while it has kept Sri Lankan Tamils staying in India as refugees.
The central administration “categorically avoided talking about the situation facing the Tamil refugees. Due to Respondent No. 1’s (Centre) stepmotherly treatment of the Tamil refugees, they now live in constant fear of deportation and have no certainty of their future “said the affidavit that DMK submitted. The DMK claimed that the CAA is “arbitrary” because it only applies to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and only six religious communities (Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian Communities), specifically excluding Islam.
DMK filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court, it has challenged the CAA in its plea. DMK said that even while considering religious minorities, the Tamils of Indian origin who are presently staying in India after they fled from Sri Lanka due to persecution are considered as refugees by the Centre.
The plea termed the Act ‘against Tamil race’ and keeps out the similarly placed Tamils who are residing in Tamil Nadu from the purview of the Act.
“The impugned Act ignores the reality that for several decades Tamil refugees who have settled in Tamil Nadu are deprived with fundamental rights and other rights due to non-citizenship and due to non-naturalisation and the impugned Act does not provide for any reasons to exclude them,” stated the affidavit filed by organising secretary RS Bharati, the governing party of Tamil Nadu.
It further added, “Being stateless, they have been denied of employment in the government services or in organised private sectors, the right to hold property, right to vote, enjoyment of government benefits received by the citizens and others despite there being an agreement for the same.”
Due to such an ambiguity, they are forced to stay in camps where they are often exploited having no prospects of security in future, said the DMK in its affidavit.