NEW DELHI, Sept 9 - Clarifying its stand, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said the government is against infiltration into the country but not against the Indian citizens.
The political resolution moved by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh adopted at the national executive of the party renewed its pledge on updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and expressed its commitment to bring the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Interestingly, some of the members of the West Bengal unit of the BJP, during the discussions, also demanded an NRC like exercise in their State to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants.
Party chief Amit Shah stated that illegal migrants would no longer be accepted. �We will implement the NRC in a manner that not a single new infiltrator will be allowed to enter India. He said the party has been working with great vigour to implement the NRC after the elections in Assam. The issue has been mentioned in political resolutions of nine BJP national executive meetings,� senior party leader Nirmala Sitharaman told newsmen here, quoting Shah.
She also quoted Shah on the party�s commitment to passing the citizenship Bill to ensure that the Hindus, the Buddhists and the Jains from Pakistan and Bangladesh can seek refuge in India without any hesitation.
In his opening remarks on Saturday, Shah said the party�s stand on the NRC is absolutely clear. �We have undertaken the task of identifying illegal immigrants as this is our commitment. We have shown consistency in our stand. Parties like the Congress have been forced to change their positions because of our clear and unambiguous stand,� he said.
�We are pursuing the Citizenship Amendment Act which will enable us to give refugee status to religious minorities like the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Sikhs and the Christians who do not have adequate protection in our neighbouring countries. We will give them respect and citizenship so that they can lead a life of dignity,� said the BJP national president.
The national executive is being attended by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, State unit president Ranjit Dass, State ministers Siddhartha Bhattacharyya, Himanta Biswa Sarma, among others.