"National Register Of Citizens, Not National Register of Assam”: Amit Shah Reiterates No Illegal Immigrant Will Be Spared In India

After the release of the final list on August 31 which excluded over 19 lakh people of Assam, Home Minister Amit Shah has clarified that the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) has not been sidelined and it is a primary agenda of the government. A lot of questions are being raised by the opposition and several other activists regarding the issue, to which the minister has replied that the BJP government will make sure that not a single illegal immigrant is left.

What Did Amit Shah Say?

According to The Indian Express, speaking at an event, Shah said, “Aap England, Netherlands, America jaake bas jayee, koi nahin ghusne dega aapko. To phir Bharat mein aakar koi kaise bas sakta hai? Yahan koi bhi aakar bas sakta hai kya? Desh aise nahin chalta hai. Desh ke naagrikon ka register hona, yeh samay ki zaroorat hai. Aur humne chunaavi ghosna patra mein, desh ki janta ko vada kiya tha ki kewal Assam nahin, desh bhar mein hum NRC lekar aayenge, aur desh ke naagrikon ka register banega. Iske alawe… aur aage kanooni prakriya mein karyawahi karenge.”

This translates to: “You go to settle down in England, the Netherlands, America, nobody will allow you to enter. Then how can anyone just come to India and settle down here? Can anyone come and stay here? Countries do not function like this. A register of Indian citizens is the need of the hour. In our election manifesto, we had promised that not only in Assam, we would bring NRC in the entire country, make a register of Indian citizens. For others, action will be taken as per the law.”

He said, “The name itself is National Register of Citizens, not National Register of Assam,” to which he further added, “Assam ke naagrikon ka register nahin hai yeh (It’s not a register of Assam’s residents”).

Shah also stated that the government is clear about bringing NRC into action and that everyone will be given the right to prove their citizenship in the court. People failing to do so will be sent out of the country through a legal process. The government has also appointed lawyers to handle the legal proceedings of locals who cannot afford to pay the legal fee.

However, the party’s move to exclude Bengali Hindus from the NRC has raised multiple speculations as they happen to be the major vote banks of BJP in Assam. Ranjeet Dass, Assam BJP chief, had said last month, “We will appeal to the government that if names of Indians are excluded then we should go for legislation. There is no question of religion here; one may be Hindu, Muslim or any caste or community.”

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