On NRC, who exactly is lying?

In yesterday’s speech, PM Modi made several claims on NRC which raised questions over the communication gap among the chief party leaders.

NEW DELHI| Fierce protests erupted across the Nation when the centre passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill on 11 December 2019. Many did not agree on the amendment made in the Citizenship Bill. The exclusion of the Muslims from the purview of the bill gave a clear indication that BJP is pushing Hindutva agenda, many claimed. From West Bengal to South India every state is projecting the disagreement with the centre.

To calm the apprehensions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the citizens on 22nd December, weeks after the centre passes the CAB in Rajya Sabha. At Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, it was for the first time after massive CAA protests across the country PM Modi was speaking. It was also meant to mark the beginning of BJP’s campaign for Delhi Assembly Elections.

In his speech, PM Modi once again reiterated that the CAA is not against a particular community. He also blamed the Congress and other opposition parties for stoking the fire on NRC.

However, many claims made by PM Modi raised more questions than answering the existing ones. There was also a question on whether there is a communication gap between the top two leaders of the government.

Statements made by Modi which raised eyebrows

• PM Modi said, “We never discussed NRC after coming in power”

In the past, during many events, BJP made it amply clear that the party intends to bring a nation-wide NRC. Especially, the BJP manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, holds the point of implementing NRC across the Nation. Amit Shah in his speeches has also raised the point of NRC implementation across India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also upheld the NRC implementation topic many times. Both ministers have said before the 2024 election many illegal immigrants will be thrown out and the filtration process will be carried out soon.

Also Read: Final NRC list released, 19 lakh people left out

In yesterday’s speech, Modi took U-turn stating the NRC had been initiated under Congress rule and that neither Parliament nor his cabinet had framed any rules for a countrywide update. “I want to tell the 130 crore Indians that from 2014 till now, nowhere there have been any discussions or talk on the word ‘NRC’. It has been done only in Assam, on a directive from the Supreme Court,” he said.

While giving interview to Times Now PM Modi talked about NRC

“Ye jhoot hai, jhoot hai, jhoot hai (This is a lie, lie, lie),” Modi said, following the Opposition’s charges linked to the NRC. “We didn’t make it. It has not come to Parliament, nor to the cabinet, nor have any rules or regulations been drawn up.”

While speaking in the Lok Sabha during the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, Shah had said a countrywide NRC would indeed be implemented.

“We will ensure the implementation of NRC in the entire country. We will remove every single infiltrator from the country, except Buddha, Hindus, and Sikhs,” the BJP’s official Twitter handle had posted in April, attributing the quote to Shah ahead of the general election.

First, we will bring Citizenship Amendment Bill and will give citizenship to the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Christian refugees, the religious minorities from the neighbouring nations.

Then, we will implement NRC to flush out the infiltrators from our country. pic.twitter.com/w7yeDf5qcn

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 22, 2019

• No presence of detention centre in India

In yesterday’s speech, PM Modi said, “Koi desh ke musalmano ko na detention centre main bheja ja raha hai, na Hindustan main koi detention centre hai (No Indian Muslims are being sent to detention centres and neither are there any detention centres in this country).”

However, the detention centres are constructed across the nation. There are at least six detention camps in Assam. Ten separate detention centres are coming up.

Can anyone translate this to english#CAA_NRC_Protests #CAAProtest #NRC #CAB_NRC #AmitShah #rss #narendramodi pic.twitter.com/9Ah3JLyUa0

— Shiv from Kailasa (@shiv_from) December 21, 2019

In Assam, six detention camps are being built in Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, and Tezpur. These camps are under construction and taken care of by the state government. Once the centres are ready the foreigner will be shifted to those centres.

In Maharashtra under the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in September land has been approved for illegal immigrants in Nerul, Navi Mumbai the state’s first detention centre.

In Karnataka, the detention building is at Sondekoppa village, around 30 km from Bengaluru. The Karnataka government had stated at present 35 temporary detention centres were operational across the state to house illegal immigrants.

West Bengal in November 2019 that the state government has already finalized a piece of land in New Town area to set up two detention centres to house foreign nationals arrested on various criminal charges.