As soon as the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in both houses of Parliament and given Presidential nod making it a law, loud murmurs started about another move- the National Register of Citizens or NRC. What is NRC and does it really create a problem together with CAA, here's what you need to know:
1. What is NRC? NRC is the National Register of Citizens. The NRC identified illegal immigrants from Assam on the Supreme Court's order. This has been a state-specific exercise to keep its ethnic uniqueness unaltered. But ever since its implementation, there has been a growing demand for its nationwide implementation. Now, many top BJP leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah have proposed that the NRC in Assam be implemented across India. It effectively suggests to bring in a legislation that will enable the government to identify infiltrators who have been living in India illegally, detain them and deport them to where they came from.
2. Who stands to lose?
The proposed Bill, which till now remains just a proposal, if implemented will target illegal immigrants in India. But Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh won't be affected, if they claim they have arrived India after fleeing religious persecution. Which essentially means, if a nationwide NRC comes in as proposed, any illegal immigrant from other than Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, will be affected. And as for those three nations, people coming from there who belong to the Muslim community will also be affected as they are not included in the Citizenship Amendment Act.
3. What will happen to the affected?
As proposed, if a nationwide NRC comes in place, the affected will be detained and taken to large detention centres, as it is happening in Assam. After that, the Ministry of External Affairs will get in touch with the concerned nations. If the details of the detained are matched and accepted by the concerned nations, deportations will follow.
The Union Home Minister, asserted that there has been no discussion on a nationwide NRC process either in the Cabinet or Parliament.