Answering a question on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Home Minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that his government will ensure that all illegal immigrants are identified and deported.
Mr. Shah was replying to a supplementary question from Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan on whether the government intended to carry out an exercise on the lines of the NRC in Assam across the country.
Mr. Shah said the BJP manifesto, on the basis of which his government had been elected, had clearly said the government would identify “illegal immigrants” and “infiltrators” from every “inch” of the country and “they will be deported in accordance to prevailing international laws”. His statement drew loud applause from the treasury benches.
The original question on the NRC was raised by BJP MP Amar Shankar Sable who questioned the inordinate delay in publishing the final list in Assam.
Replying to Mr. Sable, Minister of State Nityanand Rai said the government was committed to ensure that an “error free” NRC is published where no genuine Indian citizen is left behind and no illegal immigrant is added.
Mr. Rai added that the Home Ministry and the President’s office have got over 25 lakh memoranda from those whose names have been excluded from the NRC. He said the government will be filing an appeal in the Supreme Court seeking more time to publish the register to ensure there are no errors.
Mr. Rai was also asked by Mr. Sable if the government has an estimate of the number of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar living in the country. Mr. Rai said the government was working on collating the numbers but it was problematic because the Rohingya Muslims are living across the country.
