Bangladesh remains alert about the outcome of the publication of National Register of Citizens (NRC) list in Indian state of Assam, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said on Sunday. “We believe in friendship towards all and enmity towards none. We are going to fight anyone. We are always trying to establish peace. We will resolve everything through discussion. And we are observing overall situation there,” he said at his secretariat office in the city.
Quader, also ruling Awami League General Secretary, termed the NRC list, which excluded over 19 lakhs people, as an internal issue of India. “We always get ready and prepared to face any kind of situation,” he said. Notable, more than 19,06,657, out of about 3.3 crore applicants, have been left off the final NRC published on Sunday morning. The NRC authority headed by the apex court-appointed State Coordinator Prateek Hajela released the final NRC on its official website and through its social media handles.
On the other hand, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Sunday also termed the exclusion of over 19 lakhs people as an internal issue of India. “We don’t want to make comment on the issue. If the Indian asks us anything over the issue, only then we will give our reaction,” he said at a programme at Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur.
“We want to make our stand clear that nobody has gone to India for staying there after 1971. Those who are living in India now, they have gone before 1971. And before 1971, many Indian came here and many people from Bangladesh have gone there. So, we shouldn’t think over the issue,” he said.