The government cannot lay hands on the rights of the people

New Delhi, Jan 4, 2020 Saturday

In view of the impending election of the Bihar assembly, Ram Vilas Paswan, the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), a coalition partner of the central government, said that citizenship can be let go, the government can not hand over any right of the people.

Speaking of the opposition's language against the new Citizenship Act (CAA), Paswan indicated that the LJP would also adopt anti-law stance so as not to kill itself in the Bihar assembly elections.

Speaking to PTI News Agency, Paswan said that people belonging to Dalit, backward, waged (displaced) people or any other society are citizens of this country and no government can take away citizenship. Paswan said that Muslims need not fear at all. This law does not apply to Muslims who are citizens of the country.

Speaking on the issue of the National Register of Citizenship (NRC), Paswan said that there was no concrete talk on the issue. Secondly, no citizenship can be stripped on the basis of this register. He claimed that me and my party were full of social justice and secularism, that we would not in any case be afraid.

Paswan said citizenship laws were first amended in 2003. The NRC was attached to that law. If the UPA government had assumed it in 2004, the proposal could have been dropped. But then, Home Minister P Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha that the NRC would remain a part of the CAA.