NEW DELHI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that he will be the first to resign if even one person, who has not applied for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state, gets citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA). Sarma made this declaration in response to the protests that have erupted across Assam following the implementation of the CAA. Protesters are concerned that lakhs of people will enter the state due to the new law.
Protests against the CAA have been taking place all over Assam. Effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, as well as copies of the law, have been burned in protest. The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) burned effigies in Lakhimpur, while the Congress burned copies of the law in various parts of the district.
Sarma has assured the people of Assam that those who have come to India after 2014 will not be granted citizenship, and he believes that the number of such applicants will be minimal. He stated that people do not want to be considered foreigners and that the number of citizenship applications will be insignificant in most districts.
“I am a son of Assam and if a single person who has not applied for the NRC in the state gets citizenship, I will be the first to resign,” PTI quoted Himanta Sarma as saying on the sidelines of a programme at Sivasagar.
The chief minister emphasised that the CAA is not a new law and that the time has come for applications to be submitted on the designated portal. He believes that the data on the portal will reveal the truth about the claims made by those opposing the Act. Sarma also mentioned that in about a month, it will be apparent whether lakhs of people or just a few thousand are applying for citizenship in Assam.
Sarma expressed his respect for both the protesters and the supporters of the CAA. However, he believes that enough has been said about the Act and it is now time to prove the claims made by both sides. He also stated that the CAA rules will enable the Indian government to grant citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. The law includes Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians. The implementation of the CAA was delayed due to the late notification of the rules.
Protests against the CAA have been taking place all over Assam. Effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, as well as copies of the law, have been burned in protest. The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) burned effigies in Lakhimpur, while the Congress burned copies of the law in various parts of the district.
Sarma has assured the people of Assam that those who have come to India after 2014 will not be granted citizenship, and he believes that the number of such applicants will be minimal. He stated that people do not want to be considered foreigners and that the number of citizenship applications will be insignificant in most districts.
“I am a son of Assam and if a single person who has not applied for the NRC in the state gets citizenship, I will be the first to resign,” PTI quoted Himanta Sarma as saying on the sidelines of a programme at Sivasagar.
The chief minister emphasised that the CAA is not a new law and that the time has come for applications to be submitted on the designated portal. He believes that the data on the portal will reveal the truth about the claims made by those opposing the Act. Sarma also mentioned that in about a month, it will be apparent whether lakhs of people or just a few thousand are applying for citizenship in Assam.
Sarma expressed his respect for both the protesters and the supporters of the CAA. However, he believes that enough has been said about the Act and it is now time to prove the claims made by both sides. He also stated that the CAA rules will enable the Indian government to grant citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. The law includes Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians. The implementation of the CAA was delayed due to the late notification of the rules.
In addition, Sarma mentioned that it will be possible to determine who was responsible for the deaths of five people during the violent protests in 2019. The chief minister’s commitment to the people of Assam is evident as he has made it clear that he will resign if even one person who has not applied for the NRC in the state is granted citizenship under the CAA.
(With agency inputs)
Source Agencies
