‘Would have resigned if…’: Himanta Sarma’s big claim on citizenship before NRC

Mr Sarma said there was nothing new in the CAA as it was enacted earlier (document)

Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said he would be the first to resign if a person who has not applied for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is granted citizenship people.

His remarks came after protests broke out across Assam, with opposition parties at the Center on Monday slamming the BJP government at the Center for implementing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019 to provide benefits to immigrants from Pakistan. Paving the way for citizenship to be granted to undocumented non-Muslim immigrants. Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“I am a son of Assam and I will be the first to resign if single persons who do not apply for NRC get citizenship,” the chief minister said on the sidelines of a program in Sivasagar.

Protesters claim that lakhs of people will enter the state after the implementation of CAA.

“If this happens, I will be the first to protest,” he said.

The chief minister said there was nothing new in the CAA as it was enacted earlier, adding “now is the time to apply on the portal”.

Mr Sarma said: “The data on the portal will now speak for itself and it will become clear whether the claims of those opposed to the bill are factually correct.”

With the issuance of CAA rules, the central government will now start granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. These immigrants included Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians. The law cannot take effect because the rules have not yet been published.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)