There is nothing in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) that hurts the rights of existing citizens of the country and worries about the same are unnecessary, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan has said.
Addressing the State conference of the KUWJ here on Saturday, he said media had been taking a biased stand on the CAA and giving a magnified image of the agitations against it in Assam.
Criticising the LDF’s stand against the Act, Mr. Muraleedharan said the State had no role in providing citizenship to anybody. The statement of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the State would not implement it was nothing but a mere political stunt, he said.
Refuting the allegations against attack on press freedom in the country, Mr. Muraleedharan said there was no curbs on freedom of expression.
The Union Minster distributed various media awards on the occasion.
Protest by women
Meanwhile, women journalists expressed their differences of opinion to the Union Minster, who, during his speech, alleged that the journalists’ union had taken a biased stand on the ‘moral policing’ allegation against the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club secretary. The union had been taking different stands against different persons, Mr. Muraleedharan said.
The women journalists told the Minister that they did not consider the political affiliation of the persons in ‘question’ when they stood with their colleagues who had been victimised.
