New Delhi: The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, said in Rajya Sabha that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be implemented across the country. However, he told that no one need to be afraid as it would not be based on any religion. Shah also said that the NRC is different from the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
Amit Shah said, “NRC has no such provision which says that certain religions will be excluded from it. All citizens of India irrespective of religion will figure in the NRC list. The NRC is different from Citizenship Amendment Bill.”
He added, “The process of NRC will be carried out across the country. No one, irrespective of religion should be worried, it is just a process to get everyone under the NRC.”
Shah clarified that the Citizenship Amendment Bill is needed to get Hindus, Buddhist, Sikhs, Jain, Christian, and Parsi refugees get Indian citizenship. These minority groups are persecuted in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on the basis of religion.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 was passed in Lok Sabha on 8 January and stipulates that citizenship is given to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India before 31 December, 2014.
