HYDERABAD: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday hit out at Home Minister Amit Shah for his statement that the NRC will be implemented but Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist refugees will be accorded Indian citizenship beforehand with the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Owaisi urged Shah to read the Constitution as it prohibits granting of citizenship on the basis of religion.
"The Home Minister is saying clearly that only undocumented Muslims will have to fear NRC, while others will get Indian citizenship," Owaisi tweeted.
"According to the HM, the only people who must fear the NRC are Muslims. @AmitShah I know youre allergic to it but read the Constitution, FOR ONCE. Religion cannot be the basis of citizenship, its unconstitutional & illegal," he said.
Owaisi was referring to reports on Shah's comments in Kolkata that he would like to assure Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist refugees that they would not be forced to leave India by the Centre.
Shah was addressing a BJP seminar on the National Register of Citizens, which has hitherto remained confined to Assam.
"I want to assure the people of Bengal NRC will be implemented but nothing of this sort is going to happen.
I assure all Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain refugees they won't have to leave the country, they will get Indian citizenship and enjoy all the rights of an Indian national," Shah said in an attempt to dispel fears over the NRC in the state.