Assam CM Himanta says he will resign if Non NRC applicant granted citizenship

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that he will be the first person to resign if one person, who has not applied for National Register of Citizens (NRC) is granted Indian citizenship. His statement comes in the wake of protests that have erupted across Assam against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA). The protesters claim that lakhs of people will enter the state after the CAA is enacted.

The CM's comments were followed by widespread protests in Assam, with opposition parties criticizing the BJP government at the national level for implementing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA). The Act seeks to grant citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

'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',Sarma said.

With the CAA rules being issued, the central government is set to proceed with 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 absence of notified rules is now the only barrier to the act’s implementation.