Will shelter Hindus from Bangladesh: Shah

GUWAHATI: BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday promised protection to Hindus who had immigrated to Assam following religious persecution in Bangladesh.
At a rally in Guwahati, Shah reiterated PM Narendra Modi’s promise made during the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls that other states would share the burden of providing shelter to Hindu refugees from Bangladesh.
“I want to assure you that Hindus who have suffered religious persecution (in Bangladesh) need not worry.BJP will give all the necessary protection to them. Assam alone will not have to bear the burden of sheltering them. Other states will also share the responsibility,” Shah said.
His statement came close on the heels of chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s assurance of giving protection to Hindus from the neighbouring country.
At a time when the process of updating the National Register for Citizens (NRC) is under way, the issue of giving protection and citizenship to Hindu refugees has stirred a heated debate among political and non-political organizations. While BJP wanted to include Hindu refugees’ names in the NRC, the All Assam Students’ Union has been maintaining that any foreigner who entered Assam after March 25, 1971, should be deported.