‘Thin Line Between Nationalism & Xenophobia’: Politicians on NRC

“The country belongs to them, they should conduct NRC wherever they wish to,” a top Congress leader said.

The final Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) list was released on Saturday, 31 August, with more than 19 lakh people being excluded and a total of 3,11,21,004 found eligible for inclusion.

Dissatisfaction poured in not only from members of the Opposition parties but also the BJP itself.

While for some of the BJP leaders in Assam the concern was the exclusion of many “genuine citizens”, most of the Opposition condemned the entire process and the anxieties and distress that it has caused among the minority communities in this state.

Congress leader from Kerala, Shashi Tharoor, subtly hinted that the NRC had crossed the line between nationalism and xenophobia.

"There is a thin line between nationalism and xenophobia —besides, hatred of the foreigner could later turn into a hatred of Indians different from oneself." -- Rabindranath Tagore. The prescience of a great man! #NRC

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 31, 2019