Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the historic implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act rules, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has realised the dream of the makers of the constitution.
The opposition, however, was highly critical of the move, with Kerala chief minister Pinari Vijayan declaring that the state government won't implement the scheme.
"The government has repeatedly stated that the Citizenship Amendment Act, which treats Muslim minorities as second-class citizens, will not be implemented in Kerala. That remains the position. All of Kerala will stand united in opposing this communally divisive law," Vijayan said in a statement here.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also said that their government will also oppose the implementation of the rule.
"If there is any discrimination, we won't accept it. Be it religion, caste, or linguistic. They won't be able to give citizenship to anyone in two days. This is just lollipop and show-off," said Ms Banerjee at a hurriedly called press conference at the state secretariat.
The law seeks to provide citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who came to India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.