Shiv Sena praised Modi government for its NRC move. (Representational)
Even as the Centre is firefighting over the controversial draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam, its ally Shiv Sena on Friday praised the Modi government for the move. However, at the same time, it asked the Centre to focus on the more emotive issue of “ghar wapsi” of the Kashmiri Pandits.
“If what is happening in Assam would have happened in Kashmir, people across the country would have hoisted saffron flags atop their homes,” read the editorial of the party’s mouthpiece, Saamana. “Those threatening national security should be removed and the infiltrators in Kashmir should be killed.”
“The issue is not about Hindutva… but is also related to national security and Hindu culture…,” said Sena, adding that the government should roll out red carpet to Kashmiri Pandits.
The party claimed that Kashmir has become a foreign country on India’s map due to Article 370 (special autonomous status for Jammu & Kashmir). “In the run up to the (2014 Lok Sabha) polls, Modi had promised to abolish Article 370 after coming to power. Like the implementation of NRC, abolishing Article 370 is also nationalistic work. We congratulate the Modi government for taking up the issue of foreign nationals to its logical conclusion but we want action against infiltrators in Kashmir,” it added.
Congratulating the Modi government over its “patriotic work” of “throwing out” foreign nationals, the editorial said: “Foreign nationals, even if they are Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis or Myanmar’s Rohingyas — they all should be thrown out of the country.”
The draft NRC, which has excluded names of 40 lakh people in Assam, has led to a political storm with the ruling and Opposition parties cornering each other.
The Sena said the issue of national security is not limited to the 40 lakh “infiltrators” in Assam. “Forty lakh foreign nationals have destroyed the state’s geography, history and culture. While the government is removing foreign nationals from Assam, it should also ensure the ghar wapsi of 1.5 lakh Kashmiri pandits.” “The situation is Kashmir is worsening by the day. The threat has increased as the military rule under Imran Khan’s leadership is coming,” it said.