The Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina termed the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens as the ‘internal matters’ of India. She further commented that the act was ‘not necessary.’
As per reports, Sheikh Hasina has referred to the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act in one of her interviews and stated that ‘Bangladesh has always maintained that the CAA and NRC are internal matters of India. We do not understand why the Indian Government did it. It was not necessary.’
The controversial act CAA grants citizenship to the non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who had entered India before 31 December 2014 and will not be regarded as illegal migrants as defined under Section 2(1)(b) of the said Act.
Ever since the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 9 December 2019, massive protests have been taking place across India, opposing the act.
Bangladesh, one of the three countries under CAA for which Indian citizenship is being granted contains 10.7 percent Hindu, 0.6 percent Buddhist out of its 161 million population, and has denied any migration to India based on religious persecution.
“The Government of India has repeatedly maintained that the NRC is an internal exercise of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in-person assured me of the same,” stated Hasina in her interview. She further added that the relationship between Bangladesh and India is at its best currently, with cooperation in a wide spectrum of areas.
