'NRC Show Not Over Yet, Heroes of Today Will Be Villains of Tomorrow': Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati, September 23, 2019:

Assam's Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday spoke about the implications of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and it's future at a massive rally held at the predominantly Bengali-speaking Barak Valley.

The Finance Minister has further affirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will introduce the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill at any costs.

The Finance Minister further lampooned the NRC process, and mocked that after the Rs. 1,400 crores spent in the first round, more will follow suit in the ensuing rounds.

Himanta said that the "real NRC" will only come after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill -- which seeks to provide citizenship to religious minorities from neighboring countries -- is enacted.

"There will be a free and fair NRC in India. However, it will only come after the amandment of the Citizenship Act. It is because people will keep fearing they have to go to Foreigners Tribunals", he said.

The Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma further said that the people many of the people who are celebrating after being included in the final NRC will face a grim situation.

Adding that efforts are still on to pass the contentious Bill without hurting the sentiments of the indigenous people of the Northeast, Biswa Sarma further added that the Bill will likely be enacted early next year.

Himanta's statement at Barak, where a large chunk of Hindu Bengalis have been excluded from the NRC, has set the alarm bells ringing. If the first list cost the exchequer more than a thousand crores to compile, the second list promises to be an even costlier enterprise. Till when will the common taxpayer be made to bear the burden of the Government's NRC gimmick?

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