New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday shared a fiery scene in the Congress party by sharing a fierce view with Dorshan’s prestigious 90s TV show Chankya. The video shows a warm debate in Chandragupta Maurya’s ancient council whether refugees should be given shelter.He captioned this clip: “Illegal intruders reminded me of the scene after seeing the Congress party. Mistakes were made more than 2000 years ago. We could not allow illegal migrants in our voter list,” he wrote, referring to the ongoing election roll amendment in Bihar and opposition criticism under the Congress leadership.The irony is that the Mauryan Empire – the background of the council of Chanakya – was inherent in ancient Bihar itself.In the video clip, a terrible council debate with a court, “Sharan Dena YA Na Dena AAPK Manvi Drushikon crosses Neer Bharbhar Karta” (Whether or not to give shelter, it depends on your human approach), while others warns serious consequences, argue, “Tomorrow, this Sharanarthi will claim crossing the land of Takshshila” (Tomorrow, these refugees will claim rights on our land).The BJP often bends to historical and cultural imagination to frame its politics, applies ancient texts and recover historical figures to increase its ideological message.The party has taken a difficult line on migration, linked to national security. In states like West Bengal, the party accused the Mamta Banerjee government of enabling illegal entry. Earlier this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that the Mamta Banerjee-led government was “showing pity for the intruders” and deliberately stopping attempts to fencing the border fence-a step that she claimed was to risk the country’s security.The current BJP government, however, passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019 for fast-track naturalization for refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The move staged extensive protests, calling it discriminatory leaving Muslims.India is not a signator for the 1951 United Nations refugee conference or its 1967 protocol, and there is no national refugee law, leaving most such decisions for the government’s discretion.Meanwhile, India is also facing anti -migrant policies abroad. With action on US President Donald Trump’s immigration, the country now risk losing billions of dollars in remittance.
