‘It will affect Hindus too’: CM Uddhav Thackeray says he won’t allow NRC in Maharashtra

Uddhav Thackeray, during the interview with Shiv Sena MP and editor of party mouthpiece Saamana, Sanjay Raut, however, backed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Taking a strong stand against the National Register of Citizens (NRC), chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the exercise would affect Hindus and Muslims alike and he would not allow its implementation in Maharashtra.

The chief minister’s stance to back the CAA is different from allies Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, but with riders. (IANS)

During the interview with Shiv Sena MP and editor of party mouthpiece Saamana, Sanjay Raut, Thackeray, however, backed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), pointing out that it did not take away anyone’s citizenship. “All the citizens will have to prove the citizenship. The law doesn’t differentiate between Hindus and Muslims. [People from the] Muslim [community] came on the streets and protested. What will you do if the Hindus take the same stand? NRC will question the roots of Hindus like it happened in Assam where of the 19 lakh, 14 lakh Hindus couldn’t prove their citizenship... There are a majority of Hindus in the country and the Hindus will be most hurt by the NRC. Since the NRC hasn’t come, there is no point of protests to oppose or support it,” Thackeray said in the interview published in Saamana on Wednesday. This is the last in the three-part series of CM’s interview to Saamana.

The chief minister’s stance to back the CAA is different from allies Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, but with riders. “The CAA is not a law to remove someone from the country. Union home minister Amit Shah has said that it is to give citizenship. And I agree with it to that extent. It is to give citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries and not to remove anyone from the country,” he said. “Why hasn’t the country been told about how many such minorities or Hindus will come from the neighbouring countries? Where will they live after they come here? Will they be given homes under Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY)? What about their livelihood and the education of their children? They will not live in rural areas, but come to urban areas. There are issues of housing, admission of students and employment here. Will the government build homes for them in Kashmir now that section 370 is repealed,” he asked.

The state BJP unit welcomed Thackeray’s stand. Maharashtra BJP’s chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, “Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s statements in the interview has made many things clear about the CAA... His party had voted in favour of the CAA in the Lok Sabha. Now the CM must announce his clear support to the CAA. On the NRC, the CM has the same stand as the Central government that there is no plan to introduce NRC in the country.”

Breaking his silence for the first time after the Centre unilaterally took over the investigation in the Elgar Parishad case through the National Investigation Agency, Thackeray said the Centre should have taken the state government into confidence before taking over the investigation and the move showed that it did not trust the state police. “I don’t see anything wrong in it, but it is surprising. Nobody denied the Centre the right to investigate. While exercising their right, the Centre should have taken the state into confidence or should have told us what was wrong in the investigation. Does the Centre not have confidence in the state’s investigative agencies? It leads to strained relations between the Centre and state,” Thackeray said.

The chief minister said that Pawar had expressed his opinion on a special investigation team (SIT), but even before any decision was taken, the Centre took over the investigation. “Why are they fixing the direction of the investigation? The investigation should be impartial... I look at it impartially. I had spoken to Pawar and he also wanted an impartial probe.”

On the criticism that Thackeray and his son Aaditya are both part of the government, the chief minister said that Sena founder Bal Thackeray, who never held any constitutional post, too, was criticised. “I had never thought about this (becoming the chief minister). Aaditya on his own decided to contest; he had been working with passion. If he wishes to work on this, why should I, who took over the CM post unexpectedly, become a roadblock,” he asked.