Rajinikanth supports CAA, states few parties misleading minorities

Chennai: Accusing some political parties of instigating protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for their selfish interests, actor Rajinikanth, in his first public reaction, today said he would be the first person to voice his protest if any Muslim was affected by 

the CAA.

Talking to reporters in front of his Poes Garden residence here, the actor, throwing his weight behind the CAA, said the Centre has clearly stated that none of the Muslims in 

India would be affected by the CAA.

But some political parties were instigating protests for their selfish interests by creating panic and spreading false news aimed at dividing the people that the CAA poses a threat to Muslims, he said and sought to know how the Muslims from Pakistan and other countries, who did not leave the country during partition and living in India as their homeland, would be asked to leave now.

''The Centre has clearly clarified that none of the Muslimsin the country will be affected'', he said and asserted thathe would be the first person to voice his protest if CAA harms any Muslims in India. 

Rajini also observed that Sri Lankan refugees houses in several camps in Tamil Nadu for nearly 30 years should be granted dual citizenship, a point which the Opposition 

parties has been stressing for and the ruling AIADMK asserting that it would continue to insist the Centre to grant the same. 

The actor also said that the National Population Registry (NPR) was very essential for every country to record the number of immigrants who had come from other countries. 

On the continuing protests against CAA, NRC and NPR across the country, he said the students and the youth, before staging protests should study the issue in detail 

before staging agitations.He had a word of advice for students who were protesting 

against CAA. 

''Check all the facts before you take part in a protest. Take the advice of your parents, elders and professors. Make sure your future is not affected in case FIR is filed against you'', he said, adding, ''because there are chances that some politicians may use you for their personal gains''.

On the one-man Commission of Inquiry summoning him to appear before it in connection with the May 22, 2018 police firing at anti-sterlite protestors in Tuticorin in which 13 people were killed, Rajini said he was yet to receive the summons.

''Once I get the summons, I will appear before the Commission'', he said.Rajini was summoned for his remarks, during his visit to meet the victims two days after the firing incident, 

squarely blaming the anti-social elements for the violence. 

"It was the anti-social elements and miscreants who set fire to the vehicles and attacked the district collectorate. The government should crush such elements with an iron 

hand. If we continue to protest like this, the state will turn into a graveyard," he had said, inviting the wrath of the opposition parties.

On allegations of tax evasion, Rajini said he had been promptly paying the Income-Tax and the department also knows about it.(UNI)