NRC fair and objective: Rajnath N-E states on illegal immigrant alert ASSURANCE
Says no coercive action will be taken, slams ‘attempts’ to create disharmony
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said the process of creating the final draft of the National Register of Citizen (NRC) in Assam was “fair and objective” and “no coercive action” would be taken against those whose names are not present in the list .
The minister’s remarks come against the backdrop of the Opposition trying to corner the government over the exclusion of four million people in the draft citizen registry, which was released on Monday.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said the draft NRC was not the “final one” and those who had been left out of Monday’s list would get a fresh opportunity to provide the documents required in order to be listed in the citizens’ list. “I would like to repeat that it’s a draft and not final, everyone will get chance to appeal. It’s a totally fair process,” he said.
He added that there was no question of Indian citizens being excluded from the NRC and assured the House that nobody would be discriminated against.
The Opposition has accused the government of using the NRC to target certain communities for political benefits
Stating that the exercise to compile the citizen list was undertaken under the supervision of the Supreme Court, Singh took a veiled dig at the Opposition by stating that “some people” were trying to “create an atmosphere of fear” and fuel communal disharmony in the country.
“It is unfortunate that an atmosphere of fear has been created. Propaganda has been carried out by vested interest (groups) on social media to internationalise the issue,” he said.
Adding that it was the responsibility of every country to identify its genuine citizens, Singh sought the cooperation of all parties on the issue, which he said was linked to national security.
The Opposition had disrupted the functioning of the Upper House for the better part of the week on the issue. On Friday, it continued its attack on the government after the home minister’s speech. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O’brien said Singh and BJP chief Amit Shah were speaking in different voices on the issue. “This is classic double-speak. What is the real voice of the government? What home minister says here or what BJP president says outside?” he said.
Stating that there should be “no dichotomy in the language of government and the ruling party”, leader of Opposition in the RS and senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, highlighted instances of military veterans not figuring in the NRC draft. Congress MP Ripun Bora said guidelines related to the NRC should be modified keeping in mind that a large number of women and children were facing difficulties in proving their ancestry. RJD MP Manoj Jha argued that those who were not in the draft list should not be termed as “infiltrators”. GUWAHATI: This week’s publication of the final draft of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC), which left out four million applicants, has put many northeastern states on the edge and prompted them to reinforce security on the borders to prevent infiltration.
While Manipur has taken measures to prevent the entry into the state of those deemed illegal, Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya are demanding their own versions of the NRC to identify and deport illegal immigrants. The North East Students Organisation (NESO), the region’s biggest student body, wants NRC to be extended to all states in the region.
“We have seen the quantum of the problem in Assam and this should not spill over to other states,” NESO chairman Samuel Jyrwa said.
The Assam NRC draft left out the names of four million of the 32.9 million residents of Assam who had applied for inclusion. The final list will be released at a later date once all claims and objections of those left out are settled, but states in regions bordering Assam are already jittery about the possible fallout.
MANIPUR
In Manipur, the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-led state government formed two committees, at the state level and in districts, on Thursday, to monitor the entry or presence of illegal immigrants in the state following the publication of the final draft of the NRC for Assam on Monday.
Chief minister N Biren Singh told a press conference that the committee will initiate steps for the verification of illegal immigrants in Manipur with immediate effect. “The state government has opened a police check post at Imphal airport since Monday to prevent entry of illegal migrants. Similar steps have also been taken at entry points like Jiribam, Mao and Tamenglong railhead,” he said.
NAGALAND
The state’s home department has issued an advisory to municipal, town and village committees to keep tabs on the entry of people from outside the state following the NRC draft publication.
Since there are restrictions on entry into Nagaland similar to those in Arunachal Pradesh, the government wants residents to promptly notify district administrations and police about any “unusual influx of outsiders”.
The state’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-led government, of which the BJP is a part, is contemplating an NRC survey for the state as illegal migration is becoming a major issue.
ARUNACHAL
On Thursday, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU), the state’s apex student body, issued an ultimatum to all non-apsts (people who are not Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe residents) without valid documents to leave the state by August 16.
As per the rules, Indian citizens need to have an inner line permit (ILP) to visit or stay in the state, which borders China, and foreigners need to have a restricted area permit (RAP).
Wary about presence the of illegal migrants in Arunachal Pradesh following the publication of the Assam NRC draft, the students body plans to launch an ‘Operative Clean Drive’ from August 17 against Indians and foreigners staying in the state illegally.
“We surveyed the border areas of the state and found that nearly 50,000 people, many of whose names didn’t appear in the NRC first draft released on December 31 last year, have entered illegally in the past three to four months,” said AAPSU convener Tatung Taga.
“Since there are restrictions for entry into our state and presence of illegal migrants could create law and order problems, we are requesting them to either get ILPS before the deadline or leave Arunachal Pradesh,” he added.
MEGHALAYA
In Meghalaya, a delegation of the Khasi Students Union (KSU) met deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday and sought an Nrc-like exercise for the state to protect the rights of its indigenous tribes.
On Tuesday, a day after the Assam NRC draft was made public, activists of KSU set up three check points at areas bordering Assam to detect illegal immigrants and prevent their entry.
Reports say nearly 1,000 people with “questionable antecedents” were detected. The check points have since been dismantled, but the administration is maintaining a strict vigil at border points against infiltrators.
TRIPURA
In Tripura, while chief minister Biplab Deb has ruled out the need for an NRC, the Bjp-led government’s ally, Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), wants such an exercise.
“We observe August 23 every year as the day to reiterate our demand for a separate Tipraland. This year, at a grand rally to mark the day at Khumulwung, we will also press for NRC in our state,” IPFT vice-president Ananta Debbarma said.
(With inputs from David Laitphlang in Shillong, Sobhapati Samom in Imphal and Priyanka Deb Barman in Agartala)