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PM differs with Shah on NRC

                                             Narendra Modi
NEW DELHI, DEC 22 (AGENCIES) |

As the country continues to remain on the edge over protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) combined with NDA government’s promise to get a pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday appeared to be backtracking on what Home Minister Amit Shah promised on multiple forums, including the Parliament.

Addressing ‘Aabhar Rally’ at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan Sunday to kick start BJP’s Delhi Assembly Elections campaign slated for early next year, amid the continued protests over CAA across the country, including the national capital, PM Modi said his government had never discussed anything about an NRC apart from the one in Assam. PM Modi said on Sunday, “I want to tell the 130 crore people of India that ever since my government came to power in 2014... from then until now... there has been no discussion on NRC anywhere... we only had to implement it in Assam to follow Supreme Court directives.”

MOdi said lies were being spread about the NRC and asserted that the previous Congress governments had mooted it. His government has not discussed it so far either in Parliament or in Cabinet, he added.

However, PM Modi also added that infiltrators never “reveal” themselves unlike refugees who never “hide” their identities.

What  Shah promised: This stands in direct contrast with what Amit Shah has promised on several occasions about introducing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal and across the country to weed out illegal immigrants. Amit Shah has time and again defended the amended citizenship law as nothing against the Indian Muslims. He has said that people belonging to any religion should not have any fear under the Modi government as he asserted that the Citizenship Amendment Act would give relief to those minorities who have been living a painful life after facing persecution in neighbouring countries.

Amit Shah has also said that the Modi government will definitely implement the NRC across the country and when it will be done, not a single illegal immigrant will remain in the country. Speaking at the Lok Sabha during the CAA debate, Shah had said, “When we introduce the all-India NRC, we will bring it to this House and then we can hold a discussion on it. Don’t try to connect the citizenship bill with NRC. Maan ke chaliye NRC aane wala hai (But you should keep this in mind that NRC is about to come).”

Unity in Diversity:  ‘’University in diversity is India’s speciality’’, announced Modi while addressing the BJP rally. Amid the chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai (hail mother India), the Prime Minister urged the crowd to join him in saying, “Vividha me ekta, Bharat ki visheshta” (Unity in diversity is India’s speciality).

Modi said Congress party along with other opposition parties and urban naxals were instigating Muslims and there was an attempt to create fear in the minds of Muslims. “Muslims of India who have lived in this country for several generations do not get affected by CAA or NRC. It is a lie which is being spread by Congress and urban naxals that Muslims will be sent to detention centres. There are no detention centres in the country,” said Modi claimed.

Cong to PM on ‘no detention centre’ claim: Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared at an election rally in Delhi that “there are no detention centres in India”, the Congress struck back by saying that it wouldn’t take anything more than a simple Internet search to expose his claim.

“Does PM Modi believe Indians can’t do a simple Google search to fact-check his lies? The detention centres are extremely real and will continue to grow as long as this government is in power,” Congress posted through its Twitter handle.

Attached to the tweet were three newspaper reports, one of which quoted Union Minister Nityanand Rai as saying that 28 illegal migrants had died in detention centres across Assam.