GUWAHATI, July 26 - With the stage set for publication of the complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on July 30, the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) has expressed the hope that the Supreme Court will keep monitoring the process till the final NRC is published. The students� body also criticized the Central and State Governments for their failure to take strong action against the organizations and individuals who are trying to create communal and religious tension on the issue of updating the NRC.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, AASU chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that the process of updating the NRC reached this stage because of the constant monitoring of the Supreme Court. He hoped that the Apex Court would keep monitoring the process till the final NRC is published so that the people of Assam get a correct NRC free from names of illegal migrants. He pointed out that a correct NRC is vital for the protection of identity of the indigenous people of Assam and the document would be a landmark for the State for the years to come.
On the misinformation campaign launched by certain sections against the NRC, Bhattacharya asserted that the NRC would only identify who are Indian citizens and who are not. There is no question of differentiating the people of Assam on the basis of religion and language but unfortunately, some people are trying to create confusion in the minds of people and cause tension in the State. He strongly criticized the Central and State Governments for their failure to take strong action against the persons and organisations who are trying to create tension in the society with false propaganda and misinformation campaign. He also said that the Central and State Governments should also make strong statements to counter such misinformation campaigns, he asserted.
Bhattacharya said that the AASU and 28 organizations representing the ethnic groups of the State would keep mounting pressure on the Central and State Governments to deport the foreigners who entered Assam after the midnight of March 24, 1971. However, at the same time, he assured that if name of any genuine Indian citizen is dropped from the draft NRC, the AASU would extend all required help to him or her for inclusion of name in the NRC.
