Modi government adopts shrill note on NRC, says similar exercise for Rohingyas underway
Governance

Modi government adopts shrill note on NRC, says similar exercise for Rohingyas underway

Corrupt fugitives will soon join their comrades in Ranchi jail, says BJP.

   
People wait to check their names on the final draft NRC in Assam | PTI

File photo | People waiting to check their names on the final draft NRC in Assam | PTI

Corrupt fugitives will soon join their comrades in Ranchi jail, says BJP.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday shed all its veneer on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) updation exercise in Assam, explicitly calling for identifying and deporting all “infiltrators”, and brazenly throwing in that a similar exercise to identify Rohingya refugees had also begun.

The party had so far preferred to convey its provocative message on the issue through stray comments by party leaders instead of as an endorsed party or government missive.


Also read: BJP has two strategies for NRC: Moderation from ministers, belligerence from party


That changed Sunday.

“The BJP repeatedly says the PM Modi-led Indian government will not allow India to be used as a safe haven by illegal infiltrators. Each infiltrator will be identified, stripped of citizenship and deported,” the party said in a statement on NRC at its two-day national executive that ended during the day.  The BJP also said it had started the exercise of identifying Rohingya refugees in various cities and will come up with a process to deport them.

Party changes tack on the issue

The party has so far worked on a careful strategy as far as NRC is concerned, allowing senior leaders, including party president Amit Shah, to make incendiary statements in hope of reaping electoral benefits while ensuring all those in the government connected to the exercise maintained restraint. On Sunday, however, the party decided to go all out, blurring the line between what the Modi government and the BJP believe.

In yet another deviation, the party also clearly stated the central government will deport all those identified as illegal immigrants, even though the government has so far shown restraint and maintained that no decision had yet been taken on steps to be taken post the final list.

Till now, it was left to Shah and other party leaders — and not those in government — to talk about “ghuspaitiye (infiltrators)” and deporting them.

The exercise of updating the National Register for Citizens (NRC) in Assam aims to identify those who immigrated ‘illegally’ from Bangladesh post 24 March 1971. The final draft was released July-end.


Also read: 62,214 workers, Rs 1,100 crore and 100 terabytes of data — the behemoth behind Assam’s NRC


The party also reiterated its support for the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which seeks to give citizenship to illegal Hindu immigrants. Combined with this, NRC has been seen by BJP’s critics as a way to further its Hindutva agenda.

Party takes credit for NRC

The BJP also sought to take credit for implementing the NRC, claiming the “lack of political will” in previous governments had prevented them from doing so.  “As soon as the PM Modi government came to power, the process of implementing this in a scientific and transparent manner, which is why the final draft could come out on 31 July 2018,” the statement said.

The party, however, left out the fact that this exercise is monitored by the Supreme Court and began in September 2015 under the then Congress government in the state, and was taken forward by the BJP government after it came to power in 2016.

In fact, the government worked on it much past its deadline. Just ahead of the 30 June deadline as well, the government sought an extension from the court.

The statement also slams opposition parties for criticising the exercise.

Earlier in the day, the party in its political resolution claimed it had made India near corruption-free.

“Corruption, once endemic to Indian system has largely disappeared from the public domain. The corrupt today have to run, to use the metaphor, from pillar to post, ‘from Hong Kong to London’. They may remain fugitives for some time but they must have to return, to join their comrades in Ranchi jail,” it said.