New Delhi: Speaking on the contentious issue of Assam NRC, Union minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that causing a major demographic impact, the “majority community” in Assam has grown only 2.4 times in the past 50 years while the “minority” Muslim community has grown 3.9 times, which has made it necessary for the Centre to eliminate illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
Jaitley also attacked Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and called her “fickle-minded” because in 2005 she had voiced her concerns about infiltration in Bengal when she was still a BJP ally.
"In the 50 years between 1961 and 2011, the majority community in Assam has grown 2.4 times; the minority has grown 3.9 times," Jaitley wrote in a blog post. "This has caused a major demographic impact."
Jaitley, who is on medical leave from his role as finance minister, also quoted a Supreme Court order that said that influx of illegal migrants was turning some districts in Assam into a Muslim-majority region, which could lead to demands for their merger with Bangladesh.
"Nobody could have put it better," Jaitley wrote.
In the lengthy blog post, Jaitley dedicated a separate sub-head to criticize Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, which read: ‘West Bengal is not far behind’.
He wrote: “India’s sovereignty is paying a heavy price because of the quality of its political discourse. Though Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Mr. Rajiv Gandhi took a particular position in 1972 and 1985 for the deletion and deportation of foreigners, Rahul Gandhi takes a contrarian position and his party turns turtle. Similarly, the BJP ally of 2005, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, took a particular position. As a federal front leader, she now talks to the contrary. Can India’s sovereignty be decided by such fickle minds and fragile hands?
Jaitley has referred to Banerjee’s speech in Parliament in 2005 when she had said, “… infiltration in Bengal has become a disaster now”.
The BJP leader has also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the NRC issue, saying citizens are the soul of the nation and not "imported vote banks".
Jaitley has accused Gandhi of taking a fringe position with regard to the NRC, which is contrarian to what was advocated by former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
Names of over 40 lakh people in Assam do not figure in the final draft of NRC, which is being prepared to identify illegal migrants in the state. The second draft of the NRC was published in Guwahati earlier this week.
Opposition Congress and TMC has stalled the functioning of the Rajya Sabha for two days over the issue.
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