The National Register of Citizens will be carried out across the country, declared Home Minister Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The NRC seeks to establish a “genuine” list of citizens, which requires people to prove their citizenship, the citizenship of their ancestors and their relationship to their ancestors. In Assam, the NRC aims to identify illegal immigrants who entered the state and settled after March 25, 1971.
Amit Shah was responding to Congress MP Syed Nasir Hussain’s query, if the NRC provides citizenship to immigrants of six non-Muslim faiths. In his response, Amit Shah said that Syed Nasir Hussain had confused the NRC and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
The NRC seeks to establish a list of “genuine” citizens from those who are already in the country. On the other hand, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will make it easier for Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Christian and Parsi refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan — who are being discriminated on the basis of their religion — to obtain Indian citizenship.
In the Rajya Sabha, Amit Shah said: “The NRC process was carried out across Assam. It was undertaken under a Supreme Court order and a separate Act. Now, the NRC will be implemented across the country. When it is undertaken across the country, the NRC process will be carried out in Assam again. But, let me make it clear — no one from any religion needs to worry.”
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, lapsed following the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, and will be introduced during the ongoing Parliament session.
Amit Shah said that the NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Bill are two different issues and both should not be seen through one prism.
When the final NRC list was published in Assam, 19 lakh people were left out, and have to approach foreigners tribunals. India does not grant citizenship by birth alone, and the child is not granted citizenship if one of the parents is an illegal immigrant.
Shah said people whose names are missing from the NRC can approach tribunals formed at the tehsil level. The Assam government will provide financial help to those who don't have the money to file pleas, he said. Shah said the government would bear the cost of hiring a lawyer.