Thalapathy Vijay, Tamil actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief, on Monday hit out at the Centre after it implemented the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

The Centre announced the implementation of the CAA 2019, a move that comes four years after the law was passed by Parliament and paves the way for citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. With this, the Centre will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from the three countries.

“It is not acceptable to implement any law like the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA) in an environment where all citizens of the country live with social harmony,” a rough translation of his statement, which was released in Tamil, said.

Thalapathy Vijay also requested the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the law does not get implemented in Tamil Nadu.

“The leaders should ensure that this law does not get implemented in Tamil Nadu,” the statement said.

This is Thalapathy Vijay’s first political opinion since he floated the party. On February 2, Vijay entered into politics and announced the name of his party – Tamilaga Vetri Kazham.

Earlier on Monday, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to “salvage his sinking ship” by notifying the rules for the CAA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in an attempt to gain political mileage.

In a social media post, MK Stalin said the BJP government’s “divisive agenda” has weaponised the Citizenship Act, turning it from a “beacon of humanity” to a “tool of discrimination” based on religion and race. It “betrayed” Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils and thus, sowed “seeds of division”, he further said.

Despite staunch opposition from democratic forces such as the DMK, the CAA was passed with the support of BJP’s “stooge” the AIADMK, Stalin alleged. Fearing a backlash from the people, the BJP had kept the law in cold storage till now, he further claimed.