‘We Are One First’: Kerala government publishes ads in Delhi newspapers opposing citizenship law

At citizenship law protests rage across the country, the Kerala government took out ads in the Delhi editions of The Times of India, Indian Express and Hindustan Times proclaiming that the state’s Legislative Assembly is the first in the Union to “pass a unanimous resolution against the discriminatory CAA”.

The advertisement led with “We Are One First”, and said Kerala has “stayed” National Population Register procedures “that can lead to” a National Register of Citizens.

The Kerala Assembly passed a resolution demanding the scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 31, 2019. The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and seconded by the Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala. On December 20, Kerala stayed work on the National Population Register, considering “apprehension among the general public”.

Earlier this week, when BJP and RSS members conducted a door-to-door campaign in Kozhikode to drum up support for the citizenship law, about 350 households put up posters outside their gates with messages rejecting the CAA, NRC and NPR. The posters said the BJP and RSS were not welcome.