NRC will prove to be black law that will divide country: CG CM

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday said the National Register of Citizens (NRC), if implemented, will prove to be a "black law" that will lead to "division of the country".

Describing the new citizenship act and the proposed NRC as the two sides of the same coin, Baghel accused the BJP of "misleading Indians in the name of nationalism".

"The BJP-led Centre has no right to harass the entire people of the country through such steps and waste public money and resources," the CM said while addressing a gathering of protesters against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposedNRC.

The protest was organised by 'Sanvidhan Bachao Samiti' in Bhilai town in Durg district.

Baghel had earlier said if the NRC to be implemented, he will be the first person to not sign the document.

According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants, and be given Indian citizenship.

Baghel said he was aghast at the prospect of Indians being compelled to prove their citizenship through NRC in future.

The CM referred to Swami Vivekananda's famous speech which he had made in Chicago in 1893 to underline the pluralist character of India.

"In 1906, Mahatma Gandhiji had opposed the Asian Registration Citizen Bill in South Africa which required the people of Asian descent to give their fingerprints. We have to prove our Indianness, if the NRC implemented," he said.

Baghel reiterated the difficulty people from Bhilai, who hail from different states, might face in case they are asked to collect documents related to their parents, in the event of NRC implementation.

"It would be a difficult task for them to arrange certain documents related to their parents from their native places. Think if there is a clerical error in our identity related documents, then we have to go around the court to prove our citizenship," he added.

Citing recent NRC updation in Assam, Bahgel said even descendants of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed were left out of the process.

"....Even a BJP MLA was excluded. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is himself saying that there are errors in the NRC," he said.

Baghel said the NRC process took 10 years to unwind in Assam costing the treasury Rs 1600 crore.

"If this happens across the country then imagine what the situation will be. The Centre has no right to disturb the entire people of the country in this way and waste money, resources and time," he said.

He further said the Centre has several agencies to catch infiltrators and take action against them as per the law.

"We will support them if the Centre will do so. But if they will try to harass people through NRC, we will not tolerate. This will be a black law which will result in dividing the country," the CM added.