‘Not a single illegal migrant will be allowed in India’

India will allow no "illegal migrant" to stay, says the country’s Home Minister Amit Shah.

“I want to clearly say that not a single illegal migrant will be allowed to stay in the country by the Government of India. That is our commitment," news agency PTI quoted Shah as saying.

Shah, who is the chief of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, made the remarks while addressing chief ministers of eight states of northeastern India at a program in Guwahati in Assam on Sunday (Sept 8).

Speaking of Assam’s just-published National Register of Citizens (NRC), the senior BJP leader said the citizen list was completed in "time-bound manner".

"Various people have raised all kinds of questions on the National Register of Citizens (NRC)… It was completed in a time-bound manner," he said

On Sept 1, India released the final NRC, a list of genuine citizens in the state of Assam, excluding 1.9 million people amid fears they could be rendered stateless, who India said mostly immigrated from neighboring Bangladesh.

Every person left out of the NRC can appeal to the Foreigners Tribunal, and the time limit to file the appeal has been extended from 60 to 120 days.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people are being held in Assam’s six detention centers for illegal immigrants that often draw flack from the rights activists.

Following the release of the NRC, Assam said the state would ask Bangladesh to take their people back as the final citizen list traced up to 1.5 million foreigners.

Assam’s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media, “We will approach Bangladesh and ask them to take their people back, but during that time we will not allow them to vote and give them certain amenities.

“The government of Bangladesh is a friend to India and they are cooperating with us… They are frequently taking back their people when we have presented cases of illegal immigration. The number has not been high, but now we will have a process to identify them.”

“Just because people’s name doesn’t appear in the NRC doesn’t mean that they will be called foreigners and sent to Bangladesh,” he said.

Bangladesh, however, denied anyone had moved to India after 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan describing the NRC “is purely an internal matter” of India.

On Sept 1, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was quoted by an India media outlet as saying, “All I can say is that no one from Bangladesh went to India after 1971. It may be possible that they settled (mainly Bengalis) in Assam from various parts of India itself, but not Bangladesh,” said the home minister.

“Ever since Bangladesh was created, India has been with us. Our relationship with India is excellent. India is our friend, but as far as NRC is concerned, I can say that no one from Bangladesh went to India after 1971.

“I don’t think that the Indian government will push anyone towards Bangladesh,” Kamal added.