'CAA Wasn’t Necessary, Don’t Understand Why Indian Govt Did It': Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday termed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as internal matters of India, but at the same time said the act was not necessary. "We don't understand why (the Indian government) did it. It was not necessary," Hasina told the Gulf News in an interview.

According to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and face religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

President Ram Nath Kovind had given assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into an Act.

Shiekh Hasina, who is in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, also said that there has been no recorded reverse migration from India.

“No, there is no reverse migration from India. But within India, people are facing many problems,” she said.

"(Still), it is an internal affair,” Hasina said.

"Bangladesh has always maintained that the CAA and NRC are internal matters of India,” Hasina said. “The Government of India, on their part, has also repeatedly maintained that the NRC is an internal exercise of India and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has in person assured me of the same during my visit to New Delhi in October 2019.”

India says our internal matter

India has reached out to countries across the world, including Bangladesh, on the issues of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

"We have explained our position to the Bangladesh government on the NRC. We said this is an internal matter,” MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.  

"We did reach out to countries across the globe on Citizenship Amendment Act and the NRC," Kumar said at a media briefing.

"We emphasised that the Act (CAA) just expedites acquiring of citizenship to persecuted minorities. It does not change basic structure of Constitution," he said.