Hindus don’t have to leave country if their names are not on NRC list, says Mohan Bhagwat

Hindus need not be fearful about being made to leave the country irrespective of whether their names feature in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and elsewhere, says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

Speaking in a meeting at Uluberia, Sangh Sarsanghchalak told representatives of 37 allied organisations that no Hindu would be made to leave the country even if their names are not on the NRC list, The Telegraph reported.

The Sangh chief was referring to the concerns of over 12 lakh Hindus of the 19 lakh people who did not make into the final NRC list in Assam.

“I assure you, not a single Hindu will have to leave this country because of NRC,” Bhagwat was quoted as saying at the meeting on Sunday.

“Hindus not listed in the final NRC in Assam need not worry. The RSS will stand by them…. Hindus anywhere in this country need not worry about NRC,” Bhagwat added.

Along with the RSS-BJP’s support of the NRC outside Assam, Bhagwat also talked about the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which the Modi government is trying to pass to ease the process of getting citizenship for the non-Muslim migrants from the countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“We expect the Union home minister and our national party president Amit Shah to give a similar assurance about Hindus not named in the NRC in Assam and elsewhere, like in Bengal, during his visit to Kolkata on October 1,” said a BJP leader who attended Sunday’s meeting.

Mohan Bhagwat also targeted the Trinamool Congress and the Left in Bengal, saying that the saffron camp will counter the “misinformation” which is being spread by both sides.

“We tried passing the bill in the first term itself but it got stuck in the Rajya Sabha. We will soon have a majority in the Upper House as well so we will easily pass it well before the Bengal polls. Mamata Banerjee or the CPM will not be able to confuse Hindus over NRC,” said a BJP leader to The Telegraph.

BJP leader in Bengal, Dilip Ghosh had promised to have NRC in Bengal. Even in the rallies addressed by Amit Shah in the state had pitched the idea of NRC in Bengal. The BJP won 18 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats.

“Our call for NRC has clearly helped us here. We will not take our foot off the NRC pedal in Bengal,” said a BJP leader to The Telegraph.