No discrimination, no coercive action while finalising NRC: Rajnath

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday assured that there will be no discrimination while finalising the National Register of Citizens(NRC) in Assam and no coercive action will be taken against anyone.  Asserting that the process of identifying of Indian citizens by NRC was fair and objective, he said no genuine citizens will be left out. 

The Minister made this statement in the Rajya Sabha which had seen uproar for the last three days since the final draft of NRC was released earlier this week.  Singh also said the present list was only final draft and not report.  He accused vested interests of trying to disrupt social and communal harmony.

Replying to a short duration discussion earlier this week on the NRC issue, Singh said the entire process of NRC was conducted under the Supreme Court supervision and the apex court was constantly monitoring it.  In fact, the Supreme Court issued some more directions and directed the government to conduct the survey in a time bound manner a day after the RC draft was released on July 30,he said.

Informing the house that the central Government provided security forces to Assam to maintain peace, the minister said 2,500 centres to conduct the NRC were set up in the state.  Those not figuring in the final draft will get an opportunity to provide the required documentary proof to establish their bona fides, he said. Responding to Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad's apprehension that the number of those not included in the NRC list was more than 40 lakhs, Singh said this figure pertained to persons and not families as suggested by the Congress leader. 

Touching upon the genesis NRC, the minister said updating NRC was part of the Assam Accord inked by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 to identify illegal foreigners in the state.  The cut-off date for establishing the credentials of citizens living the state was March 24, 1971. 

However, those who migrated to Assam after this cut-off date, will also get an opportunity to submit proof, he said adding there will be no discrimination.  Several MPs had expressed apprehensions that those migrating to the state from other parts of the country after 1971 will be left out of NRC. Singh said every country wants to identify genuine citizens and "it is their responsibility," and sought the cooperation of all parties on the matter saying it related to national security.  He said it was unfortunate that an atmosphere of fear was created after the NRC draft report.

 "Propaganda has been carried out through vested interest on social media to internationalise the issue and disturb the communal harmony.

Certain people were trying to create communal disharmony and this should not be done, he added. After the Home Minister's reply, several members welcomed the statement, with some seeking clarifications and some others giving suggestions on the NRC.  They also asked the government to extnd the deadline to allow people to submit documents. 

Ripun Bora (Congress) urged the Government that the guide lines related to the NRC should be further modified as a large number of women and children were facing difficulties in proving their lineage.