The Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA), in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Tuesday, February 4, said that the government has not yet taken any decisions to implement a nation-wide National Register of Citizens(NRC).

‘Till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare National Register of Citizens at the national level,’ said Nityanand Rai, Minister of State for Home Affairs.

However, MHA’s statement is in stark contrast to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s several statements in Parliament where he ascertained that NRC will be implemented across the country.

It says ‘TILL NOW, the government has not taken any decision’Legal foundation of NRIC is Sec 14A of the CitizenshipAct & Citizenship Rules 2003Govt can anytime notify implementation of NRCNPR will start from 1st AprilJust a matter of notification to convert NPR into NRC https://t.co/qnYoHHZI9W

— Aman Wadud (@AmanWadud) February 4, 2020

Amit Shah’s Repeated Statements On Nation-Wide NRC

At an election rally in West Bengal on April 11, 2019, Shah said, ‘We have promised in our manifesto that once Narendra Modi government comes to power in 2019, we will implement National Register of Citizens in the entire country.’ The same was tweeted by Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)official twitter handle, which was later deleted.

He repeated the statement at another election meeting on April 22.

First, we will bring Citizenship Amendment Bill and will give citizenship to the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Christian refugees, the religious minorities from the neighbouring nations.Then, we will implement NRC to flush out the infiltrators from our country. pic.twitter.com/w7yeDf5qcn

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 22, 2019

At a rally in Bongaon, West Bengal on May 1, 2019, he said, ‘The CAB will come, all refugees will be given citizenship, and after that, a National Register of Citizens will be formed. Refugees do not have to worry. Infiltrators will surely have to worry.’

First we will pass the Citizenship Amendment bill and ensure that all the refugees from the neighbouring nations get the Indian citizenship. After that NRC will be made and we will detect and deport every infiltrator from our motherland. pic.twitter.com/oB2SlBaQ0j

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 1, 2019

In yet another election rally in Jharkhand in December, Shah had said that NRC will be rolled out before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Shah’s statements on NRC, which recieved thunderous applause from his followers, clearly seemed to be a favourite topic for our Home Minister to garner support in his election rallies.

Shah had reiterated his statements in Rajya Sabha twice in July 2019. ‘The NRC is part of the Assam Accord and was also in (BJP’s) election manifesto based on which the government has come to power. The government will identify illegal immigrants living on every inch of the country’s soil and will deport them as per international law,’ Shah said.

Barely three months ago, in November, he repeated his stance on NRC and said, ‘The Assam exercise was carried out under a Supreme Court order. NRC will be carried out across the country, will be done in Assam again at the time, no one from any religion should be worried.’

A look at BJP’s election manifesto for General Elections, 2019, will tell you that a nation-wide NRC was indeed promised by the BJP. In page 11 of their 43-page-long manifesto, BJP had said, ‘There has been a huge change in the cultural and linguistic identity of some areas due to illegal immigration, resulting in an adverse impact on local people’s livelihood and employment.’

It further added, ‘We will expeditiously complete the National Register of Citizens process in these areas on priority. In future, we will implement the NRC in a phased manner in other parts of the country.’

So, Who’s Lying?

This is not the first instance when the BJP government has tried to take a step back from their statements on NRC.

Soon after the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) was passed in December, protests erupted across the country, not only against CAA but against the divisive policies of the BJP government as well.

The pressure on the BJP government grew so much so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly contradicted the Home Minister’s statements. On December 23, while addressing a huge gathering at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, PM Modi had said that there has been no discussion on NRC since BJP came to power in 2014 and that it only followed the Supreme Court directive to implement it in Assam.

‘We did not make it(NRC), nor did we bring it to the Parliament or announce it,’ he had said. Well, there clearly seems to be a serious lack of communication between Modi and his right-hand man Amit Shah.

The 130 crore Indians have no connection to the CAB. A lot of lies are being spread about NRC as well.It was made during the Congress regime. Where were the protesters then? We did not make it, nor did we bring it to the Parliament or announce it: PM Modi #DilliChaleModiKeSaath

— BJP (@BJP4India) December 22, 2019Since then,…