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Shiv Sena is Athawale’s prime target over CAA, NRC. Then rebuts his govt
The rally organised by the Republican Party of India (RPI-A) on Sunday was part of the exercise to build a campaign in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
At a rally in favour of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday attacked the Congress and Shiv Sena for their stand on the law. Athawale, an ally of the BJP at the Centre, then went on to declare that NRC was limited to Assam and other states need not worry about it
He accused the Congress-led opposition for confusing people about the citizenship law and the citizens register, a line that echoes the narrative of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party that explains the street protests in various parts of the country to false propaganda by opposition parties.
The rally organised by the Republican Party of India (RPI-A) on Sunday was part of this exercise to build a campaign in favour of the citizenship law. Athawale, the president of the RPI (A), a splinter group of the Republican Party of India, stressed that Indian Muslims didn’t need to worry as “they are totally safe”.
“The Congress and many other Opposition parties are misleading the Muslims, tribals and many other communities by claiming that in the absence of proper documents they may lose their citizenship,” said Athawale at the rally in Dr BR Ambedkar Garden, Bandra.
“The National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be limited to Assam only. There is no need to worry about NRC in rest of the states,” he said, a stand that is at variance with the position adopted by the BJP that leads the national coalition.
The BJP and top ministers of the central government have insisted that there is no connection between the citizenship law and the NRC on the one hand, and the NRC and the National Population Register.
But the Centre has never really disowned the plan to build the National Register of Citizens, a commitment that has been repeatedly made by top party leaders and its manifesto.
Like when Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in an interview to HT last week, stressed that “CAA, NPR and NRC are not interconnected”, he did underline the government’s commitment to build the citizens’ register at some point of time.
“Our commitment is there to NRC. But the government is very clear about it...whenever it is done, it shall be in accordance with the legal requirement of the Citizenship Act and the rules therein. Also, it will be done after consulting the states. As of now, nothing has been done, not even the preliminary exercise to notify the date,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The NRC project of the government, first conceived about two decades ago, is an effort to identify citizens and non-citizens, primarily illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who the BJP leadership says, would be evicted from the country.
Athawale, who told his audience that they did not need to worry about NRC, however, targeted at the Shiv Sena for not taking a clear stand on the citizenship law and the NRC.
“Since the time of Balasaheb Thackeray, Shiv Sena had been campaigning aggressively to stop infiltration of Bangladeshis, but now suddenly they are against what they had said earlier. Why has the Sena taken a U-turn? This is because they want to retain the chair.”
Athawale said the NRC will be “limited to Assam only”.
