The Home Ministry said on Friday that no decision has been taken to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Tripura, after a similar exercise was carried out in Assam to identify illegal immigrants.
In a statement, the Home Ministry said a delegation of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), led by its president Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl, met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, but no assurance had been given to the team regarding implementation of the NRC in the State.
After the exercise in Assam, some leaders in the BJP said that the NRC should be implemented across the country. Updating the NRC to root out foreigners was a demand during the Assam Agitation (1979-1985). The NRC in Assam includes only those able to prove they were in Assam before 1971. More than 40 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants in Assam were left out of the complete draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), which was published on July 30.
“The Home Minister met a delegation of the INPT, led by its president Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl, on October 4. However, no assurance was given by the Home Minister regarding the implementation of the NRC in Tripura. It is categorically asserted that no decision has been taken on the issue,” the statement said. The Ministry also said that news reports appearing after the meeting on the likely implementation of the NRC in Tripura are “absolutely incorrect and mischievous.”
Mr. Hrangkhawl said that the agenda of the meeting was to discuss the NRC in Tripura, and a letter had been received for the same from the Home Ministry.
“The Home Minister invited us to talk on the NRC. We met him on Thursday and, when we asked, he said ‘NRC work in Assam is going on now. Let Assam work be over.’ He did not specifically say NRC will be taken up in Tripura after Assam. But he did not deny also. The discussion was on the NRC because we received a letter from them on the topic,” Mr. Hrangkhawl told The Hindu.