Guwahati: BJP national president Amit Shah on Sunday promised protection to Hindus who had immigrated to Assam following religious persecution in Bangladesh .

Hindu refugees from Bangladesh will be given Indian citizenship if BJP comes to power in Assam in next year’s assembly polls, Shah said. “Some Hindus have come from Bangladesh due to religious disturbances. BJP will give all of them citizenship once we come to power in Assam next year,” Shah said at a rally here.

At a BJP rally here, Shah reiterated PM Narendra Modi’s promise in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls that other states would share the burden of providing shelter to the 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 the Hindu refugees. Other states will also share the responsibility,” Shah said.

Shah’s statement came close on the heels of chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s assurance of giving protection to Hindu refugees 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’ name in the NRC, the All Assam Students’ Union has been maintaining that any foreigner who entered Assam after March 25, 1971, should be deported.

However, the issue of giving protection to Hindu refugees has always been an electoral gambit, with BJP and Congress eyeing votes among the community ahead of elections.

On the issue of infiltration, Shah said BJP could only solve the problem once it came to power in the state. Shah alleged that Congress did not want infiltration from Bangladesh to end for the cause of vote-bank politics.

“The problem of infiltration from Bangladesh has robbed the indigenous people of their rights. BJP has to come to power to stop infiltration for good. Our government at the Centre is very serious about the problem. That is why our government has provided Rs 140 crore to update the NRC to tackle the problem of influx,” Shah added.

