GUWAHATI, April 22 - As many as 85 companies of Central forces have been deployed in Assam exclusively to deal with any situation that may arise during the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has entered the final phase with verification of family trees and certificates issued by the Panchayat secretaries.
Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that apprehending trouble in certain parts of the State during the process of verification, the Centre first deployed 50 additional companies of Central forces to the State and then again 35 more companies were sent. The forces have been deployed in the areas considered vulnerable, but so far no major untoward incident has been reported from any part of the State. Sources revealed that the additional forces sent for dealing with any problem that may arise during the process of updating the NRC are likely to stay in the State till the entire process is over. The situation is being reviewed periodically and if required, more forces can be deployed to maintain law and order, sources admitted.
Official sources admitted that efforts are still on by unscrupulous elements with vested interest to spread misinformation campaign on the process of updating the NRC. At the initial stages of verification of the documents submitted by the applicants to get their names included in the NRC, the misinformation campaign by groups having vested interest created tension in some parts of the State. But on its part, the office of the State NRC Coordinator and the Government officials engaged in the process, launched an awareness campaign through media and field visits, which neutralized the efforts of the unscrupulous elements to a great extent. Moreover, strict instructions have already been issued to the Superintendents of Police of all the districts to take action against anyone found to be involved in rumour mongering on the issue. However, some elements are still trying to create confusion in the minds of people with misinformation campaign, sources admitted.
Sources pointed out that names of around 1.90 crore people were included in the first draft of the NRC and the people are now waiting eagerly for the publication of the final draft. As the process of updating the NRC is closely monitored by the Supreme Court and even after the publication of the final draft, there would be provisions for filing claims and objections, genuine Indian citizens should not worry about the NRC. Moreover, if anyone is not satisfied with the decisions of the concerned officials, he or she will have the option to approach the Foreigners� Tribunals, High Court or even the Supreme Court. Under the circumstances, the genuine Indian citizens should not be concerned. On the other hand, the foreigners who entered Assam after March 25, 1971 have no legitimate claim to get names included in the NRC and they have no right to agitate, sources pointed out.
It may be mentioned here that during the process of verification of the family trees, around 48 lakh mismatches were detected and the persons concerned have been called to the verification centres for on the spot verification, while, the process of verification of around 29 lakh certificates issued by the Panchayat secretaries is also on. The entire process is likely to be completed by the end of May.
