THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Governor Arif Muhammad Khan’s govt policy statement speech on Wednesday at the Legislative Assembly came on a mixed note while broaching on Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA). Before reading out Para 18 to the House, the Governor said he personally disagreed on the CAA-related policy, however will announce it out of respect for the Chief Minister.
Continuing his speech, the governor announced : Government seeks to keep citizenship free from religious denominations and shall strive to protect constitutional values that prevent democracy from becoming void.
Earlier, the governor had cited Article 176(d) of the constitution that states, the state government in its policy statement shall include only policies pertaining to the State and its programmes. The stand on CAA falls outside the stipulated purview, the Governor told CM, adding that, hence he shall not read it to the House.
The rebuke was soon countered by govt stating that CAA-related protest events were part of the government policy; so how could it be sliced out from formal announcement dubbing it for perspective? the govt asked. The content on CAA cannot be avoided, it informed the Governor.
