NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, FEB 12
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the BJP-led central government so far has not taken any decision on rolling out the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the whole country and made it clear that those unwilling to show documents during the National Population Register (NPR) exercise were free to do so here on Thursday.
He, however, said the NRC was a promise the BJP had made in its election manifesto.
Asked about the ongoing agitations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Shah said everyone has a right to peaceful protest but violence is not justified.
“We tolerate non-violent protests, but vandalism can’t be tolerated. Silent protest is a democratic right,” he said.
On the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said everyone, including politicians, are free to visit the newly-created Union Territory whenever they want to and there is no restriction on anyone’s movement.
Asked about the detention of three former chief ministers – Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti – he said the decision to slap them with the Public Safety Act was taken by the local administration.
Omar Abdullah has approached the Supreme Court and let the judiciary take a decision on it, said Shah.
