"My Fight Won't Stop Until Tyranny...": Kamal Haasan On Citizens' List

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Saturday attacked the centre over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), tweeting that having majority in parliament doesn't give the government the authority to "destroy" the fabric of the nation.

His remark came amid violent protests against the law in several parts of the country.

"High time, they realise that majority in parliament doesn't give them authority to destroy the fabric of my nation. After CAA, their next brainchild is NRC. You cannot deny one's ancestry based on documentary evidence or lack of it. My fight won't stop till this tyranny goes off," he tweeted.

High time, they realise that majority in Parliament doesn't give them authority to destroy the fabric of my nation. After CAA, their next brainchild is NRC. You cannot deny one's ancestry based on documentary evidence or lack of it. My fight won't stop till this tyranny goes off.

- Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) December 21, 2019

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act for the first time makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries to get citizenship if they fled to India because of religious persecution. Critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principles of the constitution.

The law was passed last week in parliament, triggering protests in the northeast, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi. In Uttar Pradesh, 13 people were killed in violence that broke out after Friday prayers. One person died in Lucknow and one in Sambhal on Thursday, taking the total number of deaths in the state to 15.

Students in several universities across the country are also protesting against the law. Earlier this week, Mr Haasan, the chief of the political party the Makkal Needhi Maiam, visited one such university in Chennai and showed solidarity with the protesters who were not allowed to leave the campus. "Our students have been made refugees here. This is beyond party... this is our responsibility," he had said.

Mr Haasan had also termed the detention of historian Ram Chandra Guha and politician Yogendra Yadav "stupid".

"I applaud with glee at the stupidity of the government for stoking the fire of Satyagraha by arresting the thinking and questioning minds of India like Ram Chandra Guha and Yogendra Yadav," he had tweeted earlier this week.