Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the NRC will be introduced throughout India and all illegal immigrants will be thrown out of the country through legal means.
He also said that people of the country have given its stamp of approval for the nationwide-implementation of the National Register of Citizens through the verdict of the 2019 elections.
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"We had promised to the people of the country in our election manifesto that not only in Assam but we will bring NRC all over the country and make a register of the country's people, and for others [illegal immigrants], action would be taken as per law," he said at an event of Hindi daily Hindustan here.
The polarising issue of the National Register of Citiizens (NRC) could be reignited in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, with the chief ministers of both states batting for its implementation. Harayana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the NRC will soon be implemented in the state. "In Haryana, we will implement NRC along the lines of Assam," he said at a function in Panchkula, according to NDTV. News agency ANI reported that Congress leader Bhoopinder Singh Hooda supported the BJP chief minister's decision. "What the chief minister has said is the law, foreigners have to leave, it is the responsibility of the government to identify them," Hooda said. Haryana will go to polls in a month's time.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in an interview to The Indian Express, also highlighted the need for NRC to secure "national security". “This is an important and a brave decision [NRC in Assam]. These things are being implemented phase-wise and I feel that when Uttar Pradesh will need an NRC, we will do so. In the first phase, it has been Assam and the way it is being implemented there, it can be an example for us. Using their experience, we can start it here phase-wise. It is important for national security and it will also put a stop on the rights of poor being taken away by illegal immigration,” he said.
The home minister said that the full abbreviation of the NRC is National Register of Citizens, not the National Register of Assam. "So this should be implemented throughout the country and I believe that there should be a list of people of the country."
"I believe that the people in 2019 have given their views on this because I myself had raised this issue in every rally without fail that we are going to introduce the NRC and those out of the list would be sent out of the country as per law," he said.
Shah also said that those left out of the NRC in Assam have been given a chance to present their case before foreigners' tribunals and the Assam government has also made arrangements for providing lawyers to those who cannot afford their fee to put forth their case.
"But I firmly believe that there is not a single country where anyone can just go and settle. I am asking you, can you go and settle in America? No, you cannot settle. Then how can someone else can settle in India? It is very simple to understand," he said.
The home minister wondered where politics came in this.
"You go try to settle in England, the Netherlands, Russia no one would allow you. Then how come anyone comes and settle down in India. Countries do not function like this. This is the need of the hour that people of the country get a national register," Shah added.
The final NRC in Assam was published on August 31 excluding names of 19 lakh residents of the state.
-Inputs from PTI