INvoking national security in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, the BJP had stolen a march on the Opposition in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, with PM Narendra Modi claiming soon after the Balakot airstrike that the nation was ‘in safe hands’. The ruling party is now again swearing by national security to justify the urgency of preparing the National Register of Citizens (NRC). In principle, the exercise makes sense as every resident Indian should be accounted for, irrespective of caste, creed or ethnicity. However, the whole process is being given a communal colour, leading to panic and possible strife. Home Minister Amit Shah said in Kolkata on Tuesday that the Centre would not force Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist refugees to leave India, promising them that the NRC would be implemented after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. It was certainly not unintentional that a prominent minority community was conspicuously left out in his speech. Firebrand politician Asaduddin Owaisi duly pounced upon this omission, telling Shah to read the Constitution that prohibited the grant of citizenship on the basis of religion.

Shah’s statement came a week after BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya boasted that ‘each and every Hindu refugee’ would get Indian citizenship. He did not even bother to name any other community. For the record, of the 19 lakh people left out of the NRC in Assam, more than half are Hindus. In West Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee government claims that at least 17 people have committed suicide or succumbed to stress so far, fearing loss of citizenship. In BJP-ruled UP, the police have already set the ball rolling to identify Bangladeshis and other foreigners so that they can be deported.

The Centre needs to ensure that only infiltrators or intruders are weeded out, not the refugees who have fled persecution in neighbouring countries. Pursuing a divisive agenda is fraught with danger as it would further alienate the minorities and worsen the trust deficit. ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikas’ will become a meaningless slogan if hapless residents are subjected to a witch-hunt.