Giriraj Singh and Nitish Kumar during Garib Kalyan Sammelan, at Bapu Sabhagar, in Patna, Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
Highlights
- Giriraj Singh said infiltrators like Bangladeshis and Rohingyas must be excluded from the exercise
- He said if illegal immigrants are included, this would grant legitimacy to the 'infiltrators'
- The Bihar govt has agreed for a caste survey despite the Centre's refusal on the same
Firebrand BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh has said that the proposed caste census in Bihar should also include Muslims and must exclude infiltrators like Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.
Stating that he fully supports the Nitish Kumar government's move for a caste survey despite the Centre's refusal, he said, “Muslims, who take advantage of reservations for backward classes, must also be covered in the exercise”.
Singh, who represents the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat, cited a petition filed in the 1990s to claim that the population of illegal immigrants in 11 Bihar districts was about four lakhs back then and highlighted that they need not be included in the exercise. He said that if illegal immigrants are included in the exercise, this would grant legitimacy to the 'infiltrators' who are not called by their name because of the politics of appeasement.
“Be they Bangladeshis, Rohingyas (from Myanmar) or any other type of illegal residents, they must be kept out,” he said while reacting to CM Nitish Kumar's Wednesday announcement to conduct caste-based census in the state. Singh, who is known for his hard line Hindutva stance, however, maintained that these were his 'personal opinion'.
The decision for a caste-based census was taken after an all-party meeting in the Secretariat on Wednesday evening. Leaders of all nine political parties represented in the Assembly were present at the meeting.
"The leaders of every party, including the BJP, agreed on a caste-based census. We will soon announce the entire programme of the census in public domain. In the first phase, we will give proper training to the officials and employees to conduct caste-based census. It will be completed in a time-bound manner," Kumar said.
Singh also said that there is a need for a strong anti-conversion law, dropping the use of the term 'minorities' and erasing all 'symbols of oppression by foreign invaders' like the Gyanvapi Masjid.
"There is a need for redefining the term minorities and even doing away with it...," he said. “Even (Mehmood) Madani (a Deoband cleric) has said he does not belong to a minority group."
READ MORE: Caste-based survey in Bihar soon, says RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav after all-party meet
