RJD leader Upendra Khushwaha: 'CAA and NRC affects the image of secular India'

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Upendra Khushwaha on Saturday stated that he stands against both the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He stated that he is against the acts as he believes that people from foreign countries will flock in India.

"The Centre has taken two decisions, first to give citizenship to foreigners and second to end the citizenship of the citizens living here. We are against these decisions because people from foreign countries will come here in huge numbers," Khushwaha stated while talking to a news agency. 

Adding further to his statement he said, "The government is not able to provide employment and education to the citizens living here and when people from other countries will come here. Where will they keep them? How will they provide education to them?" 

In his statement, he also stated that the decision to implement CAA and NRC is also affecting the image of secular India and destroying the constitution of the country.

READ | JD(U) questions 'need to protest against CAA', amid RJD's 'Bihar Bandh' call

RJD calls for Bihar Bandh

The opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal is observing a state-wide bandh in Bihar on Saturday, in protest of CAA. The workers of the party hit the streets to protest and violence was witnessed in some areas. During the protest, workers of the RJD attacked an autorickshaw where children were sitting inside the vehicle in Bhagalpur, Bihar. The bandh was called by RJD Supremo Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav.

READ | Bihar: RJD supporters stop trains as protests against CAA turns violent

Anti-CAA protests continue across India 

Violent protests were witnessed in Assam where four people have died, in West Bengal where a lot of public property was damaged and the internet service also remained suspended. Meanwhile Delhi, buses were burnt and Jamia Millia students were attacked by the cops. As some parts of the country witnessed violent anti-CAA uproar, at other places people were seen protesting against the act peacefully, particularly at Delhi's Jantar Mantar where the demonstrators sang Saare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara in patriotic fervour. Protests have erupted across the country against the Act, which grants Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. 

READ | Bihar: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav supports protests against CAA

READ | RJD calls for 'Bihar bandh' on December 21 to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act

(With inputs from ANI)