Centre to hold nationwide NRC after CAA, claims WB BJP

Bengal BJP’s ordeal with the issue of nationwide NRC took a turn for the worse. In a booklet, the party stated that after implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) the Centre has plans to conduct NRC across the country.

This is the latest in a long list of contradictory statements made by the state BJP leadership on the NRC issue. Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had categorically said that since BJP government came to power in 2014 the issue of nationwide NRC has never been discussed.

The 23-page booklet seeks to provide a lucid explanation of CAA in a question and answer format along with background information. Posing the questions “will there be NRC after this (CAA)? How necessary is it? If NRC is held here will the Hindus of West Bengal go to jail like Assam” it states that “after this NRC will be held. At least that’s the intention of the Centre.”

It comes up with a rather strange argument claiming that “11 lakh Hindus in detention camps in Assam” were sent there not because of NRC but under the Foreigners Act.

“The Foreigners Act was introduced by the Congress government and the NRC in Assam was conducted as per the order of Supreme Court which also monitored it. It was not done by state government. Moreover, the Assam government has decided to move the court against the NRC” stated the booklet.

It further stated that there is definitely hope that those who are currently in detention centres in Assam will be released after “CAB is passed”. There has been no explanation from the state leadership as to why it mentions “CAB” in a booklet which was released on Sunday, days after the Bill was passed in Parliament.

“Now after the passage of CAB if NRC is held then virtually no names of any Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian or Parsi will be in the D-voters list. The Hindu-Sikh homeland is safe for them," stated the booklet.