Hours after India released a "genuine citizen" list rendering 1.9 million people stateless, its northeastern state of Assam’s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his state “will approach Bangladesh and ask them to take their people back.”
In an interview with Indian media News18 after the publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Sarma said the years-long citizenship exercise has traced up to 1.5 million foreigners.
“This has been a mixed bag for us. People who came in post-1971 as refugees will face problems… We sympathise with them, but there are many who have manipulated the NRC process and we will look into it,” he said.
“There is no myth… If you go through the religious census data, you would see that there has been a significant shift in the demography,” Sarma, a senior leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said when asked about the change in demography over the years.
“We have managed to trace some illegal immigrants and we are looking to refine the search and the process will go on till every indigenous people of Assam will find their place... We have traced 1.4-1.5 million foreigners... This has been proved,” he insisted.
Regarding arrests over fake documents, Sarma said, “The NRC coordinator has followed the legacy data process to counter fake documentation… We have even arrested a few people for faking documents, but that does not mean the entire exercise needs a re-visit.”
Sarman, however, ruled out any violation of human rights and slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for expressing concerns over those left out.
“No human rights will be violated… We will approach Bangladesh and ask them to take their people back, but during that time we will not allow them to vote and give them certain amenities.”
“We are not taking cognizance of what Mamata Banerjee has to say. Illegal foreigners are her vote bank.”
Further, Sarma said, “The government of Bangladesh is a friend to India and they are cooperating with us.
“They are frequently taking back their people when we have presented cases of illegal immigration. The number has not been high, but now we will have a process to identify them.”
“Just because people’s name don’t appear in the NRC doesn’t mean that they will be called foreigners and sent to Bangladesh. There is a legal process in place which will help them with their case, but till then, they will not be allowed to take part in the political process of the country,” he said.
“The number has not been high, but now we will have a process to identify them,” Sarman insisted.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has denied anyone had moved to India after 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.
News18 reached Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal for comments on the NRC.
Kamal said the NRC “is purely an internal matter of India” and Bangladesh has “nothing to do with it.”
When asked about Sarma’s statement, Khan said, “Bangladesh has nothing to do with NRC. I repeat, it is India’s internal matter. I don’t know who said what in this matter.”
According to Kamal, Bangladesh will respond after India to inform them officially.
“All I can say is that no one from Bangladesh went to India after 1971. It may be possible that they settled (mainly Bengalis) in Assam from various parts of India itself, but not Bangladesh,” said the home minister.
“Ever since Bangladesh was created, India has been with us. Our relationship with India is excellent. India is our friend, but as far as NRC is concerned, I can say that no one from Bangaldesh went to India after 1971. I don’t think that the Indian government will push anyone towards Bangladesh,” he added.
Earlier in the day, India published the final NRC, a list of genuine citizens in the state of Assam, excluding 1.9 million people amid fears they could be rendered stateless.
Last July more than four million people in the north-eastern state were excluded from the final draft list of citizens published by the Registrar General of India.
According to rights groups, the exercise also made people in Assam — mostly Hindus and Muslims of Bengal origin under suspicion of being illegal immigrants — spend more than ₹7,800 crore on hearings, besides claiming the lives of around 60 people, reports Indian media outlet the Hindu.
Four of them were killed in police firing during a pilot project in western Assam’s Barpeta on Jul 2010, a few died in accidents during trips to the NRC service centres for hearings, while the rest allegedly died of shock and anxiety because of the fear of becoming stateless, the report adds.
India's home ministry has said people whose names don't appear in the final NRC cannot be declared foreigners till all legal options are exhausted.
Every person left out of the NRC can appeal to the Foreigners Tribunal, and the time limit to file the appeal has been extended from 60 to 120 days.
Prior to the publication of the final NRC, there was speculation that the number of excluded would vary from a minimum of 1-1.2 million to a maximum of 2.0-2.2 million — roughly half of the 4.1 million put on two exclusion lists on Jul 30, 2018, and Jun 26 this year.
Officials in Assam say they do not know what will eventually be done with those finally adjudged foreigners. Bangladesh has not committed to accepting them.
More than 1,000 people are being held in Assam’s six detention centres for illegal immigrants and the state government has said it seeks to set up more centres.
Human rights activists have criticized conditions at the centres, and lawyers and activists have outlined problems with the functioning of the foreigners’ tribunals.