Rajnath demands compulsory registration of citizens

New Delhi , Aug 10 (UNI) BJP president Rajnath Singh today demanded a compulsory registration of citizens and non-citizens in the country to help the authorities detect and deport illegal migrants in the light of involvement of Bangladeshis in the terror activities in India.

Addressing a dharna of the BJP 'Yuva Morcha' at Jantar Mantar here to highlight the security concerns in the Northeast raised by illegal immigration Mr Singh said, ''the UPA government should prepare and maintain a National Register of Citizens.'' He said there was an agreement between India and Bangladesh that India should deport illegal migrants from Bangladesh arriving to the country after March 1971.

Accusing the UPA government of pursuing vote bank politics, the BJP president said ''the vote bank politics pursued by Congress led UPA government has put at risk internal security of India''.

The recent series of bomb blasts in different parts of the country had focused the role of Bangladeshi sleeper modules in many cases but the UPA was yet to wake up to the dangers of illegal immigration, Mr Singh alleged.

Painting a gloomy picture of the situation in north-eastern states, especially in Assam, the BJP president said infiltration in Northeast had changed the demographic profile of several districts in the region and the problem in Assam was acute as the migrants could affect the results in over 40 per cent assembly segments.

Hailing the role of the Supreme Court in addressing the issue, Mr Singh said it had pointed towards the constitutional failure when it ruled that the Centre had not done enough to protect Assam from ''external aggression'' by holding on to Illegal Migrant Determination by Tribunal (IMDT) Act.

The Centre, instead of accepting the verdict of the apex court that the IMDT was against the Constitution, brought in the same provision by amending the provisions of the Foreigners Order 2006, making it a classic case of vote bank politics going to the extent of disregarding the orders of the Supreme Court, he alleged.

The culture of the entire Northeast was in a jeopardy and it was up to vigilant forces of the country to highlight the problems to the countrymen, he said.

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