Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a list intended to identify illegal immigrants in India's Assam state, is an internal issue of India.

"Though NRC is India's internal issue, we are staying alert and observing it. We are prepared for confronting any kind of situation," the minister said while briefing the journalists at the secretariat.

Read more

No Bangladeshis among them

Yesterday, India made public the final list of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC), excluding names of about 19.07 lakh applicants. Indian media reported that most of them were Bangla-speaking people.

The people excluded from the list are facing an uncertain future as speculations are going on whether they would be declared foreigners and be sent to detention camps for foreigners set up by Assam government.

However, both Assam and Indian government assured that those excluded from NRC cannot be declared foreigners till all legal options are exhausted.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen yesterday said he does not think those excluded from the final list of Assam’s NRC are Bangladeshis. 

He also said the NRC is an internal issue of India. He also quoted Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who opined the same.