The state BJP on Sunday said the National Register of Citizens (NRC) would protect the rights of minorities of the country that have been “taken away” by Bangladeshi infiltrators.

“Minorities in the country will get their legitimate rights and the NRC will protect their rights taken away by infiltrators from Bangladesh,” state BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said in a statement here.

He asked the Opposition parties not to “put fears in the minds of minorities” over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and instead tell them that the CAA had “nothing against them”.

“The CAA underlines that any person belonging to communities such as Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian and Sikh, who has come to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh on or before December 1, 2014, will not be treated as an illegal infiltrator (immigrant),” Shahdeo said.

Section 6B (4) of the CAA states the Act will not be effective in tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, besides the areas under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, he said.

The BJP leader also accused the Opposition of “appeasement politics” as they were “unable to fathom” the development initiatives of the central government. “The Opposition parties feel shattered with Narendra Modi government’s development work, prompting them to indulge in appeasement politics,” Shahdeo said. PTI