Opposition voices concern over NRC, Amit Shah's remarks disrupt Rajya Sabha

BJP President Amit Shahs remarks accusing the opposition of allegedly trying to protect the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants on Tuesday caused disruption in the Rajya Sabha and subsequent adjournment of the House for the day as the opposition expressed concern over the Assam NRC draft that leaves out over 40 lakh peopleThe matter led to repeated disruptions in the upper House of Parliament where opposition leaders asked the government to address the issue on humanitarian basisDiscussion on the National Register of Citizens NRC in Assam whose draft was released on Monday was taken up suspending the Question Hour on the request of the House membersLeaders of all parties briefly expressed their views on the issue Towards the end just before Home Minister Rajnath Singh was to reply Shah spokeThe Assam Accord was signed by your Congress Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on August 14 1985 And he announced it from the Red Fort in his speech the next day The spirit of the Accord was the NRC that would help identify the Bangladeshi infiltrators Shah saidYou did not have the courage to implement it We had the courage and we are doing it Everybody here in the opposition is concerned with the 40 lakh people How many Bangladeshi infiltrators are there among these 40 lakh Who do you want to protect You want to protect the Bangladeshi infiltrators Shah saidThe opposition MPs loudly objected to Shahs remarks and came towards the Chairman shouting slogans against the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party BJPChairman M Venkaiah Naidu first adjourned the House for 10 minutes But as the House reconvened at 110 pm the opposition MPs were on their feet again Naidu then adjourned the House for the dayEarlier the opposition MPs raised concern over Assams draft NRC with Trinamool Congress leader Sukhendu Shekhar Roy pointing out that several government employees and former MPs were among the 40 lakh persons left out of the draft list of citizensEven the names of people belonging to the armed forces government offices and even former MPs have been omitted The name of a former Deputy Speaker has also not been included This is a motivated attempt to render lakhs of people homeless Roy saidThe UN Convention on human rights which India is a signatory to is being violated here That is why West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded that this the list be withdrawn immediately he addedHe said they had no problem if illegal inhabitants were deported but no genuine citizen must be harassedThe Trinamool demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi come to the House and make a statement on the issueLeader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the issue was related to human rights and not to any specific caste religion or a partyOnus to prove citizenship is only on persons but it lies with the government also he saidHe suggested that the government provide legal assistance to those excluded but strictly adhere to 16 provisions to prove the citizenshipSamajwadi Partys Ramgopal Yadav said no one should be deprived of his fundamental rightsIt needs utmost care to deal with the issue No name should be deleted from the list in a hurry he saidAssam MP Bishwajit Daimari of the Bodoland Peoples Front said no Indian would be dropped out of the listWhen some of the opposition members objected to his speech he shouted leave Assam This led to a ruckus in the House with opposition MPs calling his remarks as against the ConstitutionNaidu said the member uttered the words as he was provokedHome Minister Rajnath Singh could not make a statement on the issue in the Rajya Sabha for the second consecutive day due to disruptions and adjournmentsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in the headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever