NRC only for Assam, Muslims needn’t worry: Athawale

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Republican Party of India (A) chief Ramdas Athawale on Monday said the National Register for Citizens (NRC) was only for Assam and sought to allay fears among the Muslim community.

“The NRC is only for Assam and not for the entire country,” Athawale told reporters, adding that the Muslim community had nothing to worry about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Athawale’s party is a member of the BJP-led NDA.

‘We’re proud of Muslims’

“After the Jamia Millia Islamia incident, the Muslim community is agitated. I appeal to them that this law is not against you. There’ll be no problem for the Muslim community,” he said. “We’re proud about you (Muslims) that you’re always supporting the Constitution. The NDA is fully supportive of Muslims,” he added.

Athawale pointed out that peace prevailed when the Triple Talaq Bill was passed, when Article 370 was abrogated in Kashmir and when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Ram Mandir. “My party will stand behind the Muslim community,” he said. “My party also supports the NRC and CAA. But if there are any problems, definitely the government of India should look into them.”

His comments came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi
sought to allay fears among Muslims on the CAA and the NRC.

‘Cong misguiding people’

Athawale charged that the Congress, the Left parties, the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and others were “misguiding” the Muslim community. “That’s because they’re worried about how Modi became the PM again,” he said.

The minister was in Bengaluru to review backlog in filling up vacancies reserved for SCs and STs. “There’s a 15% reservation for SC and 3% for ST. In 2001, Karnataka had 19,115 posts.

In 2019, the state government filled 16,641 posts. There’s a backlog of only 2,475. Officials have assured me that these backlogs will be fulfilled in another 3-4 months,” he said.