Asserting that no "intruder" will be allowed to stay in the country while refugees belonging to Hindu and some other religions will be given citizenship, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that the BJP-led government will bring National Register of Citizens (NRC) after Citizenship Amendment Bill is passed in Parliament.
Addressing a public awakening programme here on NRC, Shah accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of speaking "lies" that millions of Hindus will have to leave the state if NRC is implemented in West Bengal.
"Mamata Di is saying she will not allow NRC to happen in Bengal. I am telling you that we will not allow even a single intruder inside India. We will expel all of them. Mamatadi is saying that millions of Hindus will have to leave West Bengal. There is no bigger lie than this. I want to assure the people of Bengal from all communities that nothing of this sort is going to happen," Shah said.
The minister said that he had come to the state to assure the residents that refugees belonging to Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Parsi, and Christian religions will be not be asked to leave the country.
"We will not allow any refugee to go and we will not allow any intruder to stay," he said.
Shah indicated a broad roadmap for the implementation of NRC, which has so far been implemented only in Assam.
"I want to make it clear, we will bring NRC. After that, we will not allow a single intruder to stay in India. We will move each one of them out. Before NRC, we will bring the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which will ensure these people get Indian citizenship. People of Bengal are being misled on the issue of NRC. I am here today to clarify and clear all doubts on BJP's stand," Shah said.
"No country in the world can run smoothly with the weight of so many intruders. This has to stop. We are working towards changing Bengal. We will have to implement NRC to ensure the country's safety," he added.
Mamata Banerjee has been stating that NRC exercise will not be carried out in Bengal or anywhere else in the country and has claimed it has led to some deaths in the state.
She had also said that NRC exercise in Assam had left out "genuine Indians".
Shah and other BJP leaders had said during the campaign for Lok Sabha elections that NRC would be implemented in Bengal.
At his rally, Shah accused Banerjee of changing her stance on intruders.
"I want to remind Mamatadi of her speech on 4 Aug, 2005 in which she had clearly talked about the ouster of intruders. Political ambitions should not prevail over national priorities," Shah said.
"When Mamata Di was in opposition, she asked for these intruders to be removed. She had thrown her shawl on the state assembly Speaker's face on this same issue. Now that they've become her vote bank, she doesn't want them to be removed," he added.
"Didi is saying will not let NRC happen in West Bengal, but I am assuring you, each and every intruder in India will be shown the door. You know when she was in opposition and Left was in power, she used to say infiltrators must be forced to leave India,"he said.
Shah urged the BJP workers to go to every house in Bengal and expose the Trinamool's campaign. "Political interest should not be above national interest and the interest of the state. I appeal to every worker of the party to reach out to every Bengali and explain them the Citizenship Amendment Bill and the NRC," he said.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill seeks to make migrants, who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghstan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship.
Shah said the refugees will have the same rights as any other citizen.
"I today want to assure Hindu,Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Christian refugees, you will not be forced to leave India by the Centre. Don't believe rumours," he said.
Shah, who is also BJP chief, said the refugees belonging to these religious groups had come to India due to hardships they faced and most of them are from the Hindu community.
"Do not mock them or their pain will destroy you," he said targeting the Trinamool Congress.
Shah also accused the Trinamool Congress of not allowing the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
"We had brought the Bill in the Rajya Sabha but the TMC MPs did not allow the Upper House to function. They did not allow the bill to be passed, and due to this, there are people in our country who are yet to get Indian citizenship," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )