Bihar Assembly unanimously passes resolution against NRC, demand NPR in 2010 format

The Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United)  (JD-U) government in Bihar on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution in the Legislative Assembly to not implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. The assembly also passed a resolution to implement the National Population Register (NPR) in its 2010 form, with an amendment.

This comes amid the ongoing unrest across the country over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the NRC and the NPR.

The resolution was tabled in the Assembly by Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and was passed unanimously. The resolution mentioned that there is no need for NRC in Bihar and the Centre should implement the NPR in 2010 format.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Bihar Legislative Assembly had seen its fair share of unrest over the citizenship issue, with a ruckus over the issues of CAA-NRC-NPR between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition parties getting so unruly that the Speaker had to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.

As soon as the proceedings of the Assembly started, Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of misleading the people on National Population Register (NPR). Terming the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and NPR "black laws", he said that the new constitutional Acts are dividing the country.

The ruling MLAs created a ruckus over his statement. "The opposition is trying to defame the country`s Constitution. This cannot be tolerated," members of the ruling NDA alleged.

The house was adjourned for 15 minutes amid the uproar. Following the adjournment, Tejashwi told reporters, "The government has issued the NPR notification whereas the Chief Minister is saying that the NPR will happen on the basis of how it was conducted in 2010. They should clarify that the NPR will take place as per the 2010 rule," Tejashwi said.

State Minister Nandkishore Yadav had said, "The opposition can only create a ruckus. It has nothing to do with public issues. The government is ready to answer every question of the opposition parties in the House."

Severe protests have erupted in various parts of the country ever since the central government passed the amended citizenship act, which grants Indian citizenship to refugees belonging to the Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, and Jain communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

Several civil society members and activists say that the new law is against the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and clubbed with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) may be misused to strip away some Muslims' citizenship in the country. The BJP, however, has argued that the law has nothing to do with India's Muslims and only helps those who fled religious persecution in the neighbouring countries.

The states of Kerala, Punjab, West Bengal and Rajasthan have passed resolutions against the controversial law. While Punjab and Rajasthan are ruled by the Congress, Kerala and West Bengal have governments of Left Front and Trinamool Congress, respectively.