New Delhi: Amid the Opposition furore over the notification of the Centre’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Bihar JD(U) leader Khalid Anwar on Sunday said the law guaranteeing permanent citizenship to members of persecuted religious minorities in Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, will not be implemented in the state.
The remark assumes significance as the JD(U) is currently a partner of the BJP in the ruling NDA in the state.
The CAA, which comes with a legal guarantee of permanent residency to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis from these three countries, who crossed over into India and have since been living in the country as refugees, was recently implemented by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the JD(U) leader claimed that party supremo and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who returned to the NDA earlier this year after breaking away from the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in the state, has ruled out implementing the citizenship law in Bihar.
VIDEO | “The CAA will not be implemented in Bihar. Our leader Nitish Kumar has already made it clear that all 13 crore people of Bihar are Biharis, so, there’s no need of CAA, NRC (National Register of Citizens) or NPR (National Population Register),” says JD(U) leader Khalid… pic.twitter.com/OcJQpO3YgQ
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 17, 2024
He claimed further that the CM has stated that since all 13 crore people of Bihar are ‘Biharis’, there was no need for the CAA, NRC (National Register of Citizens) or NPR (National Population Register) in the state.
“The CAA will not be implemented in Bihar. Our leader Nitish Kumar has already made it clear that all 13 crore people of Bihar are Biharis, so, there’s no need of CAA, NRC (National Register of Citizens) or NPR (National Population Register) in the state,” news agency PTI quoted Anwar as telling reporters on Sunday.
Amid protests from the Opposition over the rollout of the amended citizenship Act, the Centre has clarified that the law is merely about to granting permanent resident status to minority refugees from the three Muslim-majority countries and no bonafide Indian citizen was under any threat of losing his citizenship.
