New Delhi: With Bangladesh consistently maintaining that it would not take back any alleged illegal immigrants from Assam, India may find itself in a spot on what to do with over 19 lakh (1.9 million) people, who have been left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, even though New Delhi continues to emphasise that all legal remedies are open to these people.
Meanwhile, the MEA on Thursday reiterated that the NRC is a transparent legal process monitored by the Supreme Court and reiterated that the NRC process is an “internal matter” of India.
On any situation in the future if a large number of people were rendered “stateless” after their legal remedies were exhausted, government sources on Thursday said a decision would be taken on “whatever happens in the future”.
It may be recalled that the MEA had, earlier this month, said those who didn’t find their names in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are not “stateless” and will continue to enjoy all the rights of citizens until they exhaust all the remedies available under the law. The MEA had also said exclusion from the NRC has no implication on the rights of an individual resident in Assam and that they will not be deprived of any rights or entitlements, which they have enjoyed before till they exhaust all legal remedies available to them as per law.
The NRC had been prepared to reportedly identify Indian citizens living in Assam since March 24, 1971 or before. Out of 3.3 crore applicants, over 19 lakh people were excluded from the final NRC published recently.
“Exclusion from the NRC has no implication on the rights of an individual resident in Assam. For those who are not in the final list will not be detained and will continue to enjoy all the rights as before till they have exhausted all the remedies available under the law. It does not make the excluded person ‘stateless’. It also does not make him or her a ‘foreigner’, within the legal meaning of the term. They will not be deprived of any rights or entitlements which they have enjoyed before,” the MEA had said.
