Governance

Exclusion of 40 lakh from NRC India’s local internal matter, has ethnic undertones: Bangladesh

Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul-Haque Inu, in an interview with Hindustan Times said the exclusion of over 40 lakh people in Assam from the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) was India’s “local internal matter” and had “ethnic undertones”. He said New Delhi has not even once in the 48 years of Bangladesh’s existence ever raised the issue of illegal immigrants with Dhaka.

“Firstly, we see this as an internal, local political issue with Indian state of Assam. It has nothing to do with Bangladesh. The Indian government has not discussed this issue with us, nor do we have any intention to take it up with India as it is an internal matter of India, our friendly neighbour,” he stated.

When inquired about his view on references to Bangladesh vis-à-vis illegal migrants despite enjoying good ties with India, he said, “No. As I said, it is a local political issue. So the local leaders would talk about it. At the same time, it is an age-old ethnic issue that needs to be addressed.”

He said there are no illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India. “Again, I am not telling you how issues get reflected in a local political discourse. But the fact of the matter is that there is no illegal immigrant from Bangladesh in India. This issue, let me stress, has never been discussed between us and India in the past 48 years.”

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He said Bangladesh had 10 million refugees in India during the liberation war with Pakistan. “We are grateful to India for hosting them. They were subsequently repatriated or let us say the matter was addressed under the mutually agreed terms and jointly between the two countries.”

He said Bangladesh sees Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “secular, democratic, liberal and inclusive leader would anyway address issues of ethnic conflicts”.

Earlier, BJP President Amit Shah at a press conference after the ruckus in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday said that no Indian citizen would be excluded from the NRC list, ANI reported.

“Only after proper investigation will the names be excluded. No Indian citizen will be excluded from the NRC list. This is not the final list, this is just a draft. We’ll take criticism, objections and then finally decide,” he stated.

“People talk about human rights. But don’t Assamese have human rights? When their jobs and opportunities are stolen by illegal immigrants don’t they have human rights. This is not vote bank politics, this is a top priority issue and all party should clear its stand on this issue,”  said Amit Shah.

He said that citizen security was their priority and NRC was for the security of the nation.

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In the north-eastern state of Assam, India has published a list which strips four million people of their citizenship. It says the process is to root out hordes of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

The list, named as the National Register of Citizens (NRC), is a list of people who can prove they came to the state by 24 March 1971, when Bangladesh was created.

The list has sparked fears of targeted hunting towards ethnic minorities in Assam. However, officials have said that no one will face immediate deportation and that the option of an appeal will be available to all.

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