NRC (National Register of Citizens) is certainly the need of the hour in Maharashtra with Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh admitting that Bangladeshis have been residing in Mumbai illegally. Deshmukh had called for an investigation after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase had lodged a complaint with him alleging that Rubel Jonu Sheikh was a Bangladeshi national who had obtained Bharatiya citizenship with help of fake documents.

India Today report on the matter states:

“Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday said police investigation has revealed that the Mumbai BJP leader who was recently arrested by the Mumbai Police is a Bangladeshi national and had been living illegally in Mumbai since 2011.

The BJP leader, Rubel Jonu Sheikh, president of BJP’s North Mumbai Minority Cell, is accused of obtaining Indian citizenship using false documents. Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said police have collected several evidence to establish that Rubel Jonu Sheikh is a Bangladeshi national.

Recently, the police arrested 24-year-old Shaikh in a crackdown on illegal immigrants and booked him under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act. The police investigation has reportedly revealed that he is a Bangladeshi national who had been living in Mumbai illegally since 2011.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase had lodged a complaint with Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleging that Rubel Jonu Sheikh was a Bangladeshi national and had obtained Indian citizenship using fake documents. Hitting out at the BJP, Mahesh Tapase asked if it will take responsibility for this and how did it make Sheikh an office-bearer without verifying his identity. Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had ordered an investigation into the matter.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the investigation has also revealed that Rubel Jonu Sheikh’s Aadhar and PAN card were also procured using fake documents.”

With the NCP leader and Maharashtra Home Minister establishing beyond a shadow of doubt that Bangladeshis have taken up residence in the state illegally, it is probably time for Deshmukh to lead the charge and demand NRC to be conducted in the state. NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase who is so bothered about illegal Bangladeshis should surely be motivated enough to convince his party leadership as well as ally Congress that has been opposing NRC.

Since NCP happens to be one of the parties that supported the Congress resolution demanding withdrawal of CAA and putting an end to the NRC process, may be Mr. Deshmukh and Tapase would now be able to convince NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar about the need for NRC due to which people like Sheikh have been able to take up residence in Bharat illegally.

According to the Scroll report:

“The CAA, NPR and NRC is a package that is unconstitutional, which specifically targets the poor, the downtrodden, the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and the linguistic and religious minorities,” the resolution said. “We demand the withdrawal of the CAA and the immediate stoppage of the nationwide NRC/NPR.” The parties also asked chief ministers who have promised not to implement NRC in their states to also stop the NPR enumeration process, alleging that it is a prelude to the citizens’ register.

Now that Deshmukh and Tapase have realized that the NRC in no way targets linguistic and religious minorities as suggested by the resolution but that it only helps in identifying illegal citizens, they should certainly make use of this opportunity to convince both Pawar and Gandhi of the necessity to conduct NRC. They might even be able to convince their party and ally who have instructed their chief ministers to not implement NRC, to implement the same instead.

Mr. Deshmukh your continued opposition to NRC in the light of facts “uncovered” by you in the case of BJP Minority cell leader would only send a wrong message. Now is the time to lead the charge on behalf of Maharashtra and MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government and get NRC implemented. Mr. Deshmukh are you ready to stop the rhetoric and lead the charge?

(Featured Image Source: NDTV)

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