The Prime Minster speech at Ramilia Maidan in Delhi tactfully suppressed facts on scores of detention camps coming up illegally across the country. The rally aimed to sooth tempers, saw a lot of cover-ups in form of blatant lies.
Modi's False Claims
Excerpt 1) “I wish to tell 130 crore of my countrymen that, NDA after assuming power in 2014, never once held a discussion on National Register of Citizens(NRC). The process was only initiated and completed in Assam, following a directive from the Supreme Court in this regard. The opposition leaders in their TV interviews said the exercise would entail huge costs. It is a waste of energy to undertake completing a task left halfway until now, they argued. “
FACT 1 : NRC is a means to hunt down illegal immigrants and expel them from the country. In Assam, the list of citizens was released early this year. Over 19 lakh people have been excluded in the document, following inability to submit proof of their citizenships. Intriguingly, the exercise was soon followed by Home Minister Amit Shah’s announcement that NRC will be carried out in all the states.
Excerpt 2) “ The Citizenship Amendment Act will come into force. All refugees will be granted citizenship. After this, the National Register of Citizens shall be prepared. No refugee needs to be fearful. Only infiltrators should. Please understand this sequence. First Citizenship Amendment Act, then National Register of Citizens. Also, NRC is not restricted to West Bengal alone. It shall apply to the entire nation.”
FACT : Interestingly Home Minister Amit Shah uttered these very lines during his election campaign and later in the Lok Sabha namely “ Whatever is happening in Assam is fallout of the Supreme Court ruling. NRC process shall be carried out in the entire country”.
In other words, the Prime Minister seeks to deny that these plans or Shah’s claims, existed until the new law came through. Shah’s announcements are available in Parliament records and public forums.
Also, the Centre had notified governments for working out NRC in their respective states. In the wake of unprecedented protests, several states including Kerala, informed the Centre that the exercise has been frozen. Kerala govt in fact came out with a public notification in this regard. NDA Chief Minister in Bihar too clarified that no such register would be prepared.
Detention Camps
The Prime Minister’s claim on detention camps is another lie.. Modi, at Ramilia claimed there were no premises constructed to house refugees without documentation.
FACT : The refugee camps in Assam were being built even as the survey for NRC was in its initial phase. The images on their constructions were frequently aired on most news media. Senior Supreme Court Advocate Prashanth Bhushan visited one such facility, capacitated for 3000 refugees, and posted pictures of it on twitter.
Prime Minister in his speech said that certain states have declared their refusal to implement CAA. The non-compliance is unconstitutional, he said. The fact is, that the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, by itself runs against the constitution.
