Sitaram Yechury criticised the BJP government at the centre for omitting Muslims from the list (File)

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday accused the BJP and its mentor Rashtra Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of trying to destroy the country's secular fabric and letting loose a "reign of fear and distrust" across the country by implementing the contentious National Register for Citizens and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

Mr Yechury said the BJP is trying to propagate its ideology of Hindu nationalism by replacing the principles of Indian nationalism, which had its roots in the Independence movement.

"The communal forces have increased their activities by leaps and bounds and they are trying to flare communal passions across the country. Now the BJP is taking about NRC and CAB. It will now decide who citizens are and who are not," he said while addressing a programme to commemorate 100 years of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

The CPI was formed on 17 October 1920 at Tashkent in Uzbekistan, then part of USSR.

Mr Yechury said the implementation of NRC in the rest of the country after Assam is against the interests of the people as BJP intends to use it for its "divisive communal agenda".

"The BJP government is talking about extending the NRC process to the whole country. This is uncalled for and it is being done only with the aim of targeting certain sections of people and to create polarization," he said.

He criticised the BJP government at the centre for omitting Muslims from the list of religious denominations eligible for getting citizenship in the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and called it a "complete violation" of the Constitution.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years currently even if they do not possess any document.