'CAA India's Internal Matter But Unnecessary,' Says Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

However, Hasina in her interview to Gulf News said there was no reverse migration from India to Bangladesh yet.

Image: AFP

New Delhi: While India remains gripped by internal unrest over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register for Citizens (NRC)  Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the legislations are the internal matters of India, however, describing them as “unnecessary,” reports said. In an interview to the Gulf News at Abu Dhabi, she said "We don't understand why (the Indian government) did it. It was not necessary.” She is on a visit to hold high-level bilateral meetings in Abu Dhabi. She,  however, also said that CAA and NRC are the internal matters of India. "Bangladesh has always maintained that the CAA and NRC are internal matters of India. The Government of India, on their part, has also repeatedly maintained that the NRC is an internal exercise of India and Prime Minister Modi has in person assured me of the same during my visit to New Delhi in October 2019," she added. Dhaka has also denied there has been any religious persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh. "But within India, people are facing many problems," Hasina said vaguely to the Gulf News. However, Hasina in her interview said there was no reverse migration from India to Bangladesh yet. The CAA passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees who fled from religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 2014. The law came into effect last month. The Opposition and some youth organizations in India have been protesting against the CAA. Some protests turned violent too. Soon after the CAA was passed, Dhaka canceled its high-level visits and meetings in New Delhi. Hasina's description of the law now as "unnecessary" is in line with the concerns in Bangladesh establishment that the CAA might trigger reverse migration of Bangladesh illegal immigrants living in India. (additional inputs from agencies)