Dal for all-party meet on NRC ‘misgivings’

Patna: The Janata Dal United on Wednesday betrayed its unease on the National Register of Citizens in Assam, saying the Centre should convene an all-party meeting to dispel “misgivings” on the issue.

JDU secretary-general K.C. Tyagi asserted that the NRC draft had been prepared on the directions of the government and that it was not the final list. “We want an all-party meeting with stakeholders to remove misgivings about the issue,” Tyagi told The Telegraph.

BJP leaders of the state have so far remained silent on the issue even as new party entrant from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Naresh Agarwal, has demanded that the NRC be compiled in Bihar and Bengal too.

The JDU was categorical on the other contentious issue that could lead to a face-off with the BJP: the citizenship amendment bill aimed at rehabilitating non-Muslim refugees in Assam and other Northeast states. The move has been met with strong resistance in Assam, including from BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad.

“A delegation from Assam had met Nitish ji on the issue. The people of Assam and northeast states are against it. We stand by the people and we will oppose it,” Tyagi said.

Ironically, socialist leaders had in the eighties supported the AGP agitation on the issue of “threat to Assamese culture due to infiltration”.

“We supported the issue because it was related to the local Assamese population against outsiders. But this central government is trying to communalise the issue. Chief minister Nitish Kumar should clear the stand; does he support the NRC?” said RJD’s Shivanand Tiwari.

Bihar leaders want the issue to be dealt with carefully as a large number of Biharis live in Assam for generations.

Courtesy: The Telegraph