Assam’s NRC leftover worries BNP

BNP on Tuesday voiced deep concern over reports by some Indian media that the people left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in India’s Assam could be pushed across the border, saying it may cause another grave danger for Bangladesh, reports UNB.

“The government couldn’t send a single Rohingya to their homeland in Myanmar. Many children are being born in the Rohingya camps every day. What will be their national identity?” questioned BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Speaking at a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, he further said, “Amid such a concern, the citizenship of over 19 lakh people was stripped in India’s Assam.  It’s heard that they’ll be pushed to Bangladesh, posing another serious danger for the country.”

On Saturday, the final NRC was made public excluding the names of about 19.07 lakh applicants, mostly Bengali-speaking people, as they failed to prove that they had come to India before March 24, 1971, just before Bangladesh’s Liberation began.

In an interview with Indian media News18 following the publication of the NRC, Assam Finance Minister and ruling BJP leader Himanta Biswas Sarma said they will ask Bangladesh to ‘take their people back’. ”We’ll approach Bangladesh and ask them to take their people back, but during that time we won’t allow them to vote and give them certain amenities.”

In his reaction to the publication of NRC, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said it is an internal issue of India and he did not think those excluded from the final list of Assam’s NRC are Bangladeshis.

Rizvi called upon the government to call for an all-party meeting ensuring the presence of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to find ways to overcome the Rohingya crisis.

He said their party thinks Rohingya is an international issue and a national policy must be worked out through an all-party meeting to tackle the problem.

The BNP leader criticised the government for obstructing their party at different parts of the country from taking out rallies on Monday, marking its 41st founding anniversary.