NRC row: Those left out are infiltrators, says Amit Shah

Flaying the Opposition for questioning Assam's draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday demanded that all political parties should clarify their stand on “Bangladeshi infiltrators”.

He asked them “if they wanted to compromise India’s security by patronising the 40 lakh people who have been left out of the first draft of the NRC”.

Hours after the Rajya Sabha was disrupted over the NRC issue, Shah held a press conference in the national capital and declared that the over 40 lakh people left out of the NRC were illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators and were liable to be ousted from the country.

Targeting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Shah alleged that they were intentionally spreading misinformation about NRC for the sake of vote-bank politics.

“The over 40 lakh people, who have been kept out of the NRC, are infiltrators. Although it is only a draft and hearing on the objection is still pending but only those people’s name have been struck off who could not prove their citizenship.

“These 40 lakh people are infiltrators and except for BJP no other political party has expressly stated that these infiltrators have no place in India,” said Shah adding that he was forced to held the media conference as he was not allowed to speak in Rajya Sabha due to disruptions by opposition members particularly the Trinamool Congress.

Claiming that no Indian citizen was debarred by the NRC, Shah accused the Congress and the Trinamool of spreading lies and misinformation.

“They are misleading the people in believing that Indian citizens have been delisted from the NRC. The truth is only those who failed to prove their citizenship have not found their names in the NRC.

“I demand that all the parties should clarify their stand on the issue. Those who are talking about human rights of the infiltrators and accusing BJP of discrimination, they should make their stand clear. They should clarify whether by patronising these infiltrators, do they want to compromise the security of the country, do they want the country’s resources be exploited by these Bangladeshi infiltrators,” asked Shah.

Reminding the Congress that the NRC owes its existence to the Assam Accord signed by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Shah ridiculed the grand old party for its changing stand.

“NRC is the soul of the Assam Accord which was signed by the Congress government. Be it then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi or former home minister P Chidambaram, all have said that Bangladeshi infiltrators have no place in India. But now when the Congress is not in power it is patronising the infiltrators and talking about their human rights.

“The Assam Accord says that each and every infiltrator shall be found out and struck out of the NRC. It’s the Congress which laid the foundation of the NRC but they didn’t had the courage to deal with illegal infiltrators. They were not concerned about the welfare of the citizens of Assam. Don’t the people have Assam have human rights? Aren’t their human rights infringed when these infiltrators rob their jobs, their resources?” asked Shah.

Addressing Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi, Shah said, “Don’t let vote bank politics decide your stand. We never indulge in vote-bank politics. We believed NRC should be firmly implemented when we were in opposition and saying the same now.

“NRC is being prepared in a very transparent manner and under monitoring of the Supreme Court. I want to clarify that no Indian will have problems with this. Only those who have infiltrated from outside the country will have to face the consequence. I strongly condemn the political parties’ attempts to spread misinformation and claim that this would cause tension among regions,” added Shah.

Earlier speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Shah said that the NRC was being conducted on the Supreme Court’s order and pointed out to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signing the Assam Accord in 1985.

“NRC was the Congress initiative but Congress did not have the courage to implement it. Now Modi government is doing what the Congress could not,” Shah had told the House.