Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, has raised concerns about the situation of 1,50,000 Muslims who were reportedly excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam following the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Owaisi spoke at a public gathering in Hyderabad on Friday, following the recent release of the CAA implementation guidelines by the BJP-led government saying, "Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said the 12 lakh Hindus not listed in the NRC that was conducted in the state will be given Indian citizenship under the CAA. But what about the 1.5 lakh Muslims?"
Owaisi stated that Muslims who have been excluded from the NRC list will be required to provide evidence of their lineage by tracing their ancestry back to either 1962 or even 1951 at the Foreigners' Tribunal.
"They will be asked if they came in 1962 or 1951. They will be asked to show documents and birth certificates of their grandfathers. Those 1.5 lakh Muslims will be asked to fight it out at the Foreigners' Tribunal," the AIMIM chief said.
Owaisi cautioned that despite the BJP's attempts to reassure Muslim residents that they will not be affected by the CAA, such events will occur in the future.
"They (BJP) are saying nothing is going to happen immediately. I want to tell them, that it takes time for things to unfold," he said.
Owaisi highlighted that Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, has repeatedly stated that the CAA will be accompanied by the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).
"Home Minister Amit Shah said in Parliament that NPR and NRC will also be implemented. Did he not talk about NPR and NRC in TV interviews?" the Hyderabad MP said.
The AIMIM leader commented on the NRC process in Assam, where a significant number of people discovered their names were absent from the final list and said, "The Supreme Court directed the government to conduct NRC in Assam. After spending Rs 1,600 crore, the NRC was conducted in Assam under the watch of the Supreme Court. 19 lakh individuals were not listed in it. Among them, 10-12 lakh were Hindus and 1.5 lakh Muslims."
Owaisi, on the other hand, expressed his willingness to consider granting citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighboring countries. However, he emphasized that the process should not be biased towards any particular religion.
"The government must give citizenship to people who come from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, but on the basis of religion," he said.
The rules for the implementation of the CAA were officially announced by the Union Home Ministry on Monday, which was just a few days before the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections was revealed.
The CAA rules, which were implemented by the government and approved by the Parliament in 2019, have the objective of granting Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants who have faced persecution. This includes individuals from religious communities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who have migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and entered India prior to December 31, 2014.
