The Centre told Parliament on Wednesday, in unambiguous terms, that it plans to launch a nationwide National Register for Citizens (NRC) to check and deport illegal immigrants. Responding to a supplementary question by Samajwadi Party member Javed Ali Khan, on whether NRC will be implemented in other states, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "Currently, the NRC is a part of Assam Accord. As per our election manifesto, we are dedicated to weeding out illegal immigrants from every inch of this country. We will ensure that all immigrants are deported as per international law."
Shah's statement comes on the day his Ministry informed the House that it was contemplating pushing forward the July 31 deadline to release the final NRC in Assam to maintain the fairness of the procedure. During the recent Lok Sabha electoral campaign, Shah had talked about implementing NRC across the country. He had also come under attack for calling illegal immigrants "termites".
Implementing the NRC across India will be a gigantic task for the government; in Assam alone, the process has countered several glitches and is still ongoing. Minister of state Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha that the Centre has requested the Supreme Court to extend the July 31 deadline in Assam while hearing a petition signed by about 25 lakh applicants to correct anomalies in the NRC.
"There will be some delay, but the NRC will be implemented properly without faults," Rai said, insisting that the government's intention is to ensure no genuine citizen is left out of the list.
In Assam, nearly 41 lakh people have been excluded from the final draft NRC, and 36 lakh persons have filed claims against exclusion. Currently, the Supreme Court is closely monitoring updating of the list.
Another big question which remains unanswered is whether countries such as Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan will ever take back people declared illegal immigrants by India. And what will happen to them if their home countries refuse to take them back? So far, in the recent past, India has been able to deport only five Rohingyas to Myanmar, and that too with much difficulty after presenting crucial evidence.
While no verifiable estimates are available, it is believed that India has more than two crore illegal immigrants, mostly from Bangladesh and followed by Myanmar, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
