NRC Row: Filing of claims and objections from September 25 to November 25, says SC

Sep 19 (AZINS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the filing of claims and objections in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will start from September 25 and would be open for a period of 60 days, till November 25. The statement was made by a divisional bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The apex court's statement come a week after BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav said that those  excluded from the final list of Assam-specific National Register of Citizens would be de-franchised and deported to their country. At the same time, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal suggested that the NRC be implemented across India.

The update of the NRC, a Supreme Court-monitored exercise to identify genuine Indian nationals living in Assam, excluded more than 40 lakh people from the draft list published on July 30, triggering a political controversy.

Slamming those who have said that India will have to face international criticism if illegal immigrants are deported, the BJP leader said even Bangladesh has been in active talks with Myanmar to deport lakhs of Rohingya people, who have taken shelter there to escape persecution in Myanmar.

Madhav said no country in the world tolerates illegal immigrants but India has become a "dharamshala" (lodge) for illegal immigrants due to political considerations.

He said the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, after realising the enormity of the problem of illegal immigrants in Assam, had enacted a state-specific law in the 1950s to expel foreigners.

"Nehru's great-grandson should read the history and extend support to detect and deport illegal immigrants from Assam," he said, referring to Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

BJP Vice President and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said the issue of illegal immigrants has national importance.

Prior to this, Union home minister Rajnath Singh  said that genuine Indian citizens should not be scared of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). He was speaking at a festival welcoming students from the Northeast who have shifted to the capital to pursue their studies.

“I want to say that no genuine Indian will be excluded from the NRC. It is necessary to know who is an Indian and who are foreigners living in India, for the security of the country,” he said at the gathering, adding that updating of the NRC, a list of Assam’s citizens, was carried out under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court.