BJP creating environment of 'fear and intimidation' through NRC: Sitaram Yechury

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday accused the BJP of creating an environment of "fear and intimidation" through the NRC process. The Left leader also accused the BJP of linking the Citizenship Amendment Bill with the NRC.

"The Modi-Amit Shah duo continue to play the game of scaring people and polarising them on communal lines. Despite the fact that there are multiple identity proofs- Aadhaar, Epic, Pan, etc., the scare of NRC is to intensify the environment of fear and intimidation...," he said in a tweet. Yechury said it is the "RSS fascistic ideology" that sows divisions and ruptures Indian citizenship.

"On the basis of who they pray to, what they eat, who they are, what work they do...This is anti-Indian...Citizenship question cannot be tied in with citizens' faith. The Indian Constitution will not be allowed to be destroyed," he said. In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo maintained its opposition to the extension of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to the entire country.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced in parliament that an NRC will be created for the whole country and along with that, the NRC will be repeated in Assam. "Though he has not specified when this will be undertaken, the NRC process is starting with the enumeration for the National Population Register (NPR) which is to begin on April 1, 2020. It is on the basis of the NPR that the NRC will be finalized.

"When already the Aadhaar and EPIC cards are in vogue, this is an unnecessary and wasteful process. It is meant only to fulfill the ruling party's agenda of targeting certain sections who are branded as foreigners," the statement said.

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