NRC Assam: Only Work permit for Illegal foreigners says Home Ministry

FROM A CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, Aug 4: It is unlikely that the “illegal foreigners” in Assam who will be identified through the ongoing process of National Register of Citizen (NRC) will be deported back to Bangladesh.

If officials in the Union Home Ministry are to be believed, these people who will be tagged as ‘illegal foreigners” will be given only work permit and shelter in India.

“They may not be provided with any other rights including right of voting,” said a senior government official on condition of anonymity.

This central government official had played a key role in initiating the NRC update process when it was first started.

The official further said that the exact number of such people will come clear to the fore once the final NRC is published.

In the second draft NRC that was published Tuesday last, more than 40 lakh people found their names excluded. It is reported that after the draft was made public, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Harshvardhan Shringla on an urgent basis met Bangladesh Foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali and Bangladesh’s ruling party leaders and conveyed the “issues” behind NRC publication.

It is reported that Home Minister Rajnath Singh had already briefed his Bangladesh counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan on the “broad contours” of the NRC and the process that was adopted by the Centre. This discussion had reportedly taken place when Singh visited Dhaka on July 13.

It was intimated to the Bangladesh government that nobody was talking about “deportation,” as the NRC process was Supreme Court mandated.

Minister of State (External Affairs) VK Singh is also likely to meet his Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali on the sidelines of the ASEAN ministerial meetings in Singapore shortly.

It is learnt that Singh during his proposed meeting with Ali will further inform him about NRC update process.

“Our government will never want that its relationship with neighbouring Bangladesh gets affected for NRC,” said the official.