'No Link Between NRC And NPR,' Clarifies Amit Shah; Says ‘No Discussion Yet On Pan-India NRC’

Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Modi was right when he said that there is no discussion on pan-India implemnetation of the NRC yet.

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: Amid the opposition’s outcry over the Cabinet’s approval to National Population Register (NPR), Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Tuesday cleared the air around it and stated that there is no link between the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register. In an interview given to news agency ANI, the Home Minister said, “I am clearly stating this today that there is no link between the NRC and the NPR.” On the recent storm over his statement on nationwide NRC implementation, which was in contradiction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement, Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Modi was right when he said that there is no discussion on it yet. Shah said: “There is no need to debate this ( pan-India NRC) as there is no discussion on it right now, PM Modi was right, there is no discussion on it yet either in the Cabinet or Parliament either in the Cabinet or Parliament.” "NPR and census will take place in 2021. House mapping will start in 2020," he said. Shah said he had made it clear in his speeches in parliament during the debate over the Citizenship Amendment Act that no member from minority community will lose citizenship. "I have no issue in admitting that there may have been some deficiency. But you can see my speech in Parliament. In that, I have said clearly that there is no question of any member of minority community losing citizenship," Shah said. When asked about the talks on coming up of detention centers in the country, the Home Minister said that there is only one detention centre in Assam, and has been there for years. No detention centre has been built under Modi government. “The center has been there for years and is only for illegal migrants. There is no connection between detention center and NRC or CAA. Misinformation is being spread on this,” he said. He said that detention centre is a temporary arrangement,  if a foreigner is arrested without documents, he is kept at detention centres and they are deported later. Watch full interview here: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday dismissed the controversy on detention centres and said, "A rumour is being spread that all Mulsims will be sent to detention centres. It's a lie." Responding to Asaduddin Owaisi's criticism of the Citizenship Amendment Act, Amit Shah said: “If we say that the sun rises from the east then Owaisi ji will say no it rises from the west, he always opposes our stand. Still I again assure him that CAA has nothing to do with NRC.” Upon Kerala and West Bengal’s decision to say no to NPR, Shah said: “I humbly appeal to both Chief Ministers again, that don't take such a step and please review you decisions, don’t keep the poor out of development programs just for your politics.”