KOLKATA: The NRC is "a must" for national security and will be implemented, Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared on Tuesday but made it clear that Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist refugees will be accorded Indian citizenship beforehand with the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The minister was speaking at a BJP seminar on the National Register of Citizens.

According to Shah, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been propagating misconceptions about the NRC. "People of Bengal are being misled on the issue of NRC. I am here today to clear all doubts on the BJP's stand. Mamata Di is saying that millions of Hindus will have to leave West Bengal. There cannot be a bigger lie than this. I want to assure the people of Bengal NRC will be implemented but nothing of this sort is going to happen. I assure all Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain refugees they won't have to leave the country, they will get Indian citizenship and enjoy all the rights of an Indian national," Shah said in an attempt to dispel fears over the NRC in the state. Shah also asserted that not one infiltrator will be allowed to live in India. "

Shah also took the opportunity to urge BJP workers to visit each and every refugee in the state and make them aware of the NRC. He further added that the workers must ensure the refugees that they will not be forced to leave the country in the name of NRC.