Will resign if one person who has not applied for NRC gets citizenship: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that he will be the first to resign if one person, who has not applied for National Register of Citizens (NRC), gets citizenship.

Speaking to the media CM Sarma said, “I will be the first to resign if one person who has not applied for NRC gets citizenship.”

‘I am a son of Assam and if a single person who has not applied for NRC gets citizenship, I will be the first to resign’, the chief minister said on the sidelines of a programme at Sivasagar.

The protesters are claiming that lakhs of people will enter the state after the implementation of the CAA.

‘If this happens, I will be the first to protest. There is nothing new about the CAA as it was enacted earlier, the chief minister said, adding that ‘now the time has come for application on the portal’.

‘The data on the portal will speak now, and it will become clear whether the claims of those opposing the Act stand factually correct or not,” CM Sarma said.

The chief minister’s comment comes as protests have erupted across the state. Opposition parties are flaying the BJP government at the Centre for implementing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA). The move will pave the way for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

CM Sarma earlier issued a warning against strikes violating court orders. Political parties will risk losing their registration for non-compliance, according to him. The chief minister asked the agitators to go through appropriate channels for opposing the CAA, rather than launching street protests.

“Everyone has a right to protest, but if a political party disobeys a court order, its registration may be cancelled,” CM Sarma said.

The Guwahati Police also issued a warning to those organising “Sarbatmak Hartal (complete strike)”. It has vowed to take legal action if there is any “damage to public/private property including Railway and National Highway properties or injury to any citizen caused”.

“Legal action under appropriate provisions of law including Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 will be initiated against you and the total cost of damage to public and private properties will be recovered from you and your Organization,” it said.

With the CAA rules being issued, the central government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who came to India till December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians. The law could not come into effect as rules had not been notified till now.