April 2, 2025
Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev’s speech on The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025
Sir, I thank my party for this opportunity and also to the Chair. The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 is a consolidation of the laws that impact the passport, visas, foreigners, etc. But there is some confusion in the narrative of the Government, if I may say so. If it is a mere consolidation, then, they should not thump their chest about the paradigm shift that they claim they are bringing through this Bill. And, if they do feel it is a paradigm shift, कि यह देश धर्मशाला नहीं है, जो कहा जा रहा है, अगर आप उस पर विश्वास रखते कि आप बहुत बड़ा और ठोस कदम उठा रहे हैं, if it is a huge policy push, then, we have every reason, as Parliamentarians, to ask this Bill be sent for legislative scrutiny to Committee. Sir, let me start by saying that this Bill is repealing four Acts which are the areas of law! It is illegal migration, citizenship, deportation, detention camp, borders, de-voters, Aadhaar Card, all of which are Central subjects governed under various subordinate legislations under these four Acts. This was a Bill that should have gone to some committee for scrutiny, and to make it look like a consolidation exercise is a disservice to parliamentary democracy. I lodge a strong protest from All India Trinamool Congress here. सर, इनको जब भी मौका मिलता है, ये पश्चिमी बंगाल की बात करते हैं कि पश्चिमी बंगाल का बॉर्डर porous है, पश्चिमी बंगाल में जमीन नहीं मिलती। इस देश में अगर ऐसा कोई राज्य है, if there is any State in this country in which the issue of migration, the issue of citizenship, the issue of foreigners, the issue of pushback, the issue of international border is a burning issue, it is Assam. And, let me say that Assam is a State with
‘double-engine’ sarkar. It is a double-engine sarkar. This Government came to power in the Center in 2014. The way they have played politically, जिस तरह से राजनीतिकरण हुआ of immigration and of citizenship, Assam is a laboratory for their twisted ideology. Sir, on 31st July, when the final list of
NRC came up, the hon. Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, over here, had told to this side of the House, the Opposition, कि आप लोगों को Assam Accord की आत्मा के बारे में नहीं मालूम। सर, अगर Assam Accord की धज्जियाँ किसी ने उड़ाई है, तो भारतीय जनता पार्टी ने उड़ाई है। सर, जो मार्च, 1971 की cut-off date थी, इन्होंने बदली, ये CAA लाए और हिन्दुओं को कहा कि हम आपको citizenship देंगे। सर, CAA आने के बाद आज तक barely 350 people have been given citizenship under the CAA…. When the entire nation was saying that
CAA is unconstitutional, it violates the Right to Equality. Sir, now, I come to NRC. NRC में जब पहला draft लिखा गया, at that point of time, 40 lakh people were outside the NRC and the hon. Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, said, हमने 40 लाख घुसपैठियों को निकाला। When the final list came out, this number of 40 lakhs came down to 19 lakhs. That is the one single reason that after spending Rs.
1,800 crores of public funding, 6 साल बीत गए, NRC का कुछ पता ही नहीं है। Sir, the people ran from pillar to post, sold their house, sold their vehicles to show papers under NRC in Assam. Today, they do not
know whether they are citizens of this country or not. Till today, the Registrar General of India has not notified the NRC after spending Rs. 1,800 crores. And what have they done? ये आधार कार्ड की बात करते हैं। The NRC that has not been notified on that pretext, for more than two years, this
Government stopped the *Aadhaar* Cards of 26 lakh people in Assam. They could not get jobs and they could not apply for any of the Government benefits till the Supreme Court intervenes. Last, but not the least, आप illegal migration की बात करते हैं। मैं आज गृह मंत्री जी से पूछती हूँ, आप अपने जवाब में बताइएगा कि 1997 से असम में जो ‘D-voter’, ‘D-voter’ चल रहा है, तो यह ‘D-voter’ क्या है, यह बताइएगा। मैं यह भी कह दूँ कि in the Assembly, the Government of Assam has given a data that 1,19,570 people have been declared D-voters. 54,411 is the number of people that have been declared foreigners. आप तैयार रहिए, जो national integrity की बात करते हैं, जो internal security की बात करते हैं, only 26 have been deported since 2017. जब-जब आप लोग बंगाल का नाम लेते हैं, मैं इनको याद दिला दूँ कि आप ममता बनर्जी जी की हिस्ट्री पढ़ कर आइए। क्या आप लोग जानते हैं कि 21 जुलाई, 1993, जिसे आज तक All India Trinamool Congress धरमतला में celebrate करती रही है, उसका क्या इतिहास है? वह पढ़ कर आइए। … ममता दीदी ने voter list के लिए क्या आंदोलन किया था, उसमें कितने लोग शहीद हुए थे, वह पढ़ने के बाद, हमारी नेता ममता दीदी के बारे में बोलिए।Sir, this Government has not just This Government has not just * the Bengali Hindus of Assam, this Government has * the indigenous people of Assamthe Assamese Hindus of Assam.. Sir, I just need one more minute, And I challenge the Home Minister कि आप NRC notify करिए और फिर उसके बाद पार्लियामेंट में हमें भाषण दीजिए। Sir, they have consistently used the issue of citizenship. They have consistently used the issue of NRC. They have consistently used the issue of immigration, time and
again, for polarisation and dividing the society… झारखंड की जनता ने आप लोगों को इसका मुंहतोड़ जवाब दिया। आप ‘घुसपैठिए’, ‘घुसपैठिए’ बोलते रहे और वहाँ मुँह की खा कर आए। Do not divide the society. Do not polarise the society.… We all love our country and we all want our borders to be safe, but do not polarise the nation. Thank you, Sir.
