Assam Finance Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party does not accept the National Register of Citizens and will tell the Supreme Court that it rejects NRC, reported Economic Times. He was addressing BJP workers in Karimganj and Silchar, which are Bengali dominated areas. In his address to the party workers, he said that the Citizenship Amendment Bill would be reintroduced in the Parliament in the winter session and it will grant Indian citizenship to minority refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
"Let there be a case in the Supreme Court and we will say that BJP rejects this NRC. We do not believe in this NRC. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah there will be another NRC. Those laughing now will cry for sure. A law will also be passed to grant citizenship to those who came to India due to religious persecution," Sarma said.
"If 2-3 lakh Hindus seek shelter in India, owing to persecution, can we consider them as enemies? Bengali Hindus are concerned and sad about their future. Those having faith in Bharat Mata, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis will be given citizenship, just wait for 3-4 months." Sarma said that during the panchayat and the Lok Sabha elections, BJP had said that it favoured the citizenship bill. "BJP got over 10 lakh votes in Gauhati Lok Sabha seat. In Assamese dominated Brahmaputra valley 10 out 10 Assamese voted for us. People have accepted and supported our plans and policies in recent elections," he claimed.
"He said the Assamese want the Hindu Bengalis to be given citizenship. “Language must remain but the most dangerous problem for Assam is language-based nationalism. Assamese are never against Bengalis."
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