In the wake of over 40 lakh people being left out in the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has demanded application of NRC all across the country to “drive intruders away from everywhere”.
A report published in the The Indian Express stated that at a meeting near Kankaria (in Ahmedabad), the national Joint General Secretary of the outfit, Surendra Jain, said that with some political leaders and parties opposing the ouster of Rohingyas and Bangladeshi Muslims, the “country was in danger”. “Because of this, Muslim population will increase in the country in the future, posing danger to the sovereignty, and geographical and cultural integrity of our country. Therefore, they need to be found out from every nook and corner of the country and driven away,” Jain said.
Earlier, the VHP had announced that it would initiate a campaign calling for a NRC campaign to be set up in West Bengal, just like the one in Assam. Leaders of the group said the problem of infiltration is much worse in Bengal, but further said that “Hindu refugees” should be granted citizenship.
“We demand that NRC should be implemented in West Bengal like in Assam. We will soon start a statewide campaign over this,” said Sachindranath Singha, VHP Organisational Secretary (East Zone), at a press meet in Kolkata few days back.
“Earlier, it was Mamata herself who had spoken in favour of NRC when she was in the Opposition, alleging that the CPM Government had been helping infiltrators in order to increase their vote bank. Now, she has taken a U-turn and is doing the same, shedding crocodile tears for infiltrators,” said Singha.
“If NRC is done in Bengal, it will be seen that there are far more number of infiltrators living here,” Singha said. He criticised Mamata’s allegation that the Assam Government is carrying out a ‘Bengali hatao’ movement, saying, “Simply being able to speak Bengali doesn’t mean they are Bengalis”.