New Delhi: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday assured that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be implemented smoothly and not a single Indian citizen will be deprived of his or her citizenship rights in the process.
Speaking with the media, he also said that the people coming to India were part of it before Bangladesh and Pakistan were separated.
“People got their Aadhaar very easily. I can assure whenever NRC happens, it will be so smooth and not a single Indian citizen will be deprived of their citizenship,” he said.
Speaking on excluding Muslims from the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he explained that the three neighbouring countries — Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan — have declared themselves as Islamic states.
“Therefore, you cannot imagine the religious persecution of somebody on the basis of religion in an Islamic state. Also, the people living in Bangladesh and Pakistan now coming back were part of India only.”
So, they were originally Indian citizens, he said adding “India was divided but not the people.”
He said the CAA is about inclusion and not exclusion.
“There are some people who are causing confusion and are talking in favour of illegal immigration. They are talking the language of Pakistan. We are trying to reach out to people with the right concepts,” he said.
The issue is whether to allow the illegal immigrants, no country will allow it, he said.
The second issue, he said, is where were the citizens persecuted in the name of religion in these countries.
“The country is opposing illegal immigration and is in favour of the government. Some people want to create confusion and are, in a way, favouring illegal immigration and talking the language of Pakistan.”
Those people, the Minister said, should know that CAA is not being implemented for the first time now.
He said the citizenship law was enacted for Hindus migrating from Pakistan for the first time in 2003 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.
“It was continued by the (Congress-led) UPA government in 2004 and 2005,” he said, adding that time nobody opposed it.
“The same people are now talking against it. People should not get misled and avoid violence,” the Minister said.
