GUWAHATI, Sept 29 - Representatives of a number of organisations today expressed their reservation over the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was published recently, and vouched for 1951 as the cut-off year for identifying Indian citizens residing in the State.
Speaking at a citizens� convention organised by the Lok Jagaran Mancha, Assam on �Error-free NRC�, representatives of various sociocultural organisations and people from various walks of public life expressed disgust at members of the indigenous people being left out of the citizen registry.
Among those who vouched for 1951 as the cut-off year included Aabhijit Sarma of Assam Public Works (APW) and Aditya Khaklari of the Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organisations of Assam.
Aabhijit Sarma went on to demand a CBI probe into the entire NRC update exercise, including an audit into the IT partners like WIPRO and others.
Khaklari threw his weight behind 1951 as the cut-off year, arguing that the interest of the indigenous people could be safeguarded only by this method.
Asam Sahitya Sabha president Paramananda Rajbongshi too emphasised on the need for an error-free NRC and said that no stone should be left unturned to ensure that not a single foreigner finds his or her name included in the NRC.
Gauhati High Court�s retired judge BD Agarwal, while addressing the gathering in the convention, said 1971, which is the cut-off year for the NRC update, has no relevance in the context of Assam and India, and one fails to understand why there was an agreement on the date.
�I believe, January 26, 1950 is something we should go by,� Agarwal said, adding, �I do not know what actually the hurry in publishing the NRC was?�
Advocate Bijon Kumar Mahajan, while dwelling on the issue, gave a detailed account of recent history and said that the solution or the answer to the erroneous NRC lay in the legislative domain.
�The very fact that all the stakeholders are unhappy with the final NRC speaks for itself. If even a single foreigner is included in the NRC, it would pose threat to the sovereignty and security of the State as well as the country,� Mahajan, who is also the convener of the Mancha, opined.
He said there is a clear disparity between the figures that the government, from time to time, had put up in terms of number of illegal foreigners residing in the State and what eventually transpired as a result of the NRC, which is very unfortunate.
Satradhikar of Barpeta Satra, Basistha Deva Sarma said that the NRC could not live up to the expectations of the people of Assam and that remedial measures have to be initiated.
Writer Anjali Daimary said, �It was unfortunate that we are discussing about the issue given the fact that we waited for it with lots of expectation. At no cost should the interest of the indigenous people be compromised.�
The convention was presided over Dhruba Prasad Baishya, convenor of the Mancha.
