india

Updated: Dec 19, 2019 06:59 IST

Odisha chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced that his party would not support a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) amid protests across the country against it and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA.

Patnaik’s announcement came a day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee reiterated her opposition to a nationwide NRC. Other non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief ministers like Amarinder Singh (Punjab) and Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) have also opposed a pan-India NRC. Banerjee has called the CAA and NRC “two sides of the same coin”.

Patnaik said that BJD lawmakers, who supported the CAA in Parliament, have made it clear that they do not support the NRC. “CAA has nothing to do with Indian citizens. It only deals with foreigners,’’ he said.

He referred to violent protests in Delhi, West Bengal and Assam and appealed for peace. “The CAA has nothing to do with Indian citizens,” said Patnaik.

Parliament last week cleared the CAA to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis and Jains, who have entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before December 31, 2014. Critics of the law say that it is unconstitutional because it links faith to citizenship and is discriminatory.

Union Home minister Amit Shah last month said an NRC exercise will be held across the country. A similar exercise in Assam in July led to the identification of 1.9 million, people who now face the risk of being labelled illegal immigrants.

The BJD voted in favour of the CAA in Parliament triggering protests from organisations of the religious minorities. On Tuesday, hundreds of Muslims holding black ribbons marched in Bhubaneswar against the CAA.

On December 13, a Muslim delegation met Patnaik and expressed fears regarding the CAA and the NRC. “There is speculation that detention camps will be set up and those who cannot prove their citizenship.... How can the poor without any documents and property prove their citizenship,” asked Abdul Bari, a Muslim community leader.

BJP leader Pradipta Kumar Naik said that the Centre alone and not states can decide about citizenship under the NRC. “It is not the responsibility of Odisha. Just because some people opposed the CAA, the chief minister [Patnaik] should not adopt double standards,” said Naik.

BJD Parliament member Bharthari Mahatab said that the NRC is aimed at determining, who Indian citizens are and they have to prove their citizenship. He added the CAA and the NRC are two different things. “They are being linked by vested interests...”

When asked about the critique that the CAA was brought in to benefit the Hindus left out of the NRC in Assam, Mahtab said, “The CAB was pending in Parliament for a long time and much before the NRC. So where is the question of the NRC being brought just to protect Hindus excluded from citizenship?’’

Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien said that the link between the CAA and NRC is “inextricable’’. “The linkages have been put forward by Trinamool four years ago and we have proven it in all the committee meetings. Nobody can convince us otherwise.”

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy and his Bihar counterpart, Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) or JD (U), supported the CAA along with Tamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). When HT contacted Jagan and AIADMK spokespersons for comments on the NRC, none were forthcoming.

JD (U)’s principal general secretary, K C Tyagi, cited the Supreme Court-monitored NRC in Assam and added that many people have been excluded. “The SC has so far not issued any directive for the implementation of the NRC in Bihar. How could this exercise be implemented in Bihar?” asked Tyagi.

Pavan Varma, a member of JD (U) who has been critical of the CAA, said that Kumar needs to make his stand clear now because the amended citizenship law and NRC are hyphenated.

“My position in the party is untenable because the party has taken a stand by supporting the CAA, which is incompatible with my principles and conscience. As far as the NRC is concerned, I would like Mr Nitish Kumar, as the leader of the JDU, to make a public statement in this regard. The CAA and the NRC are hyphenated. They are conjoined.. and two sides of the same coin. What can be said of a party that supports one and opposes the other?’’