Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that he would resign if even one person, who hasn't applied for the National Register of Citizens (NRC), gets citizenship.
His statement came after protests broke out in Assam, with opposition parties criticizing the BJP government at the Centre for implementing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) on Monday. The CAA aims to grant citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
"I am a son of Assam, and if a single person who hasn't applied for NRC gets citizenship, I will be the first to resign," the chief minister said during a program in Sivasagar.
Protesters fear that the CAA will lead to an influx of migrants into the state. "If this happens, I will be the first to protest," Sarma added.
Sarma emphasized that the CAA is not a new law and has been enacted before. He stated, "Now the time has come for applications on the portal." He believes that the data on the portal will reveal whether the claims of those opposing the Act are valid or not.
With the issuance of CAA rules, the central government will begin granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India until December 31, 2014. These migrants belong to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities. The law couldn't be implemented earlier as the rules had not been notified until now.
