New Delhi: Back to the wall, in the face of protests in several parts of the country over the Citizenship Amendment Act, Home Minister Amit Shah admitted on Tuesday that there might have been some communication gap in reaching out to the people.
"I have no issue in admitting that there may have been some deficiency,’’ he said in an exclusive interview to ANI.
He further clarified no detention centre has been set up since the Modi government came to power. There is only one detention centre, which has been in existence for years:
It is for illegal immigrants. There was no connection between this detention centre and the National Register of Citizens or the Citizenship Amendment Act; misinformation was spread on the issue, he claimed.
He also said he had made it clear in his speeches in Parliament during the debate on the Citizenship Amendment Act that no member from minority community will lose citizenship.
Shah further clarified that the National Population Register – the latest proposal -- will not affect the nationality status of any citizen. "NPR will not affect anyone's nationality.
Even if somebody's name is missing in the NPR, then too his citizenship will not be threatened," the Home Minister said. He asserted that NPR was continuation of a move started by the former UPA government.
"It is a constitutional provision and is the same exercise which was conducted by the Congress-led government earlier. It is neither a part of our manifesto, nor our promise. It was a good move started by the Congress which is simply being followed," he said.
Shah's remarks came on a day the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for conducting Census of India 2021 and upgradation of the National Population Register. There is also no link between the National Population Register exercise and the National Register of Citizen, he claimed.
