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Guwahati, Nov 15: More than five years have passed since the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published, and everyone hoped that the citizenship document would help detect foreigners living illegally in Assam. But till date, the fate of the NRC is not known, and the government has also not yet made its stand clear on whether the NRC will be recognised as an official document for identification of foreigners.
The NRC was published on August 31, 2019, and the names of more than 19 lakh persons who had applied for inclusion of names in the NRC were dropped as they could not provide enough proof about their citizenship. The original plan was to issue citizenship certificates to the Indian citizens living in the state based on the NRC. But nothing has happened so far, and the stand of the central and state governments on the issue is not clear.
Commenting on the issue, the chief adviser of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), Samujjal Bhattacharya, said that the people of Assam played their part by applying for the inclusion of names in the NRC, which was prepared on the basis of the NRC of 1951 and the voter's list of 1971. When the first draft was published, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was then a Member of Parliament, claimed that the BJP could prepare the NRC because it had the guts to do so, and the then Chief Minister termed it a historic document. Though the NRC was prepared under the supervision of the Supreme Court, Bhattacharya alleged that, as officers of the central and state governments were involved in the process, both governments did not play their part before the publication of the final NRC. That is why some irregularities took place while preparing the final NRC.
Bhattacharya said that the AASU was not satisfied with the NRC and filed a petition in the Supreme Court calling for re-verification of the NRC. The Assam Public Works has also submitted to the Supreme Court in this regard. But till date, the state or central governments have not filed any petition in the apex court in this regard, alleged Bhattacharya. He also alleged that the BJP leaders have been claiming in public meetings that they are not satisfied with the NRC. "If they are really serious about the NRC, they should have filed petitions in the Supreme Court, as mere public statements will not serve any purpose," he added.
The AASU chief adviser further pointed out that from time to time, Central Ministers are claiming that they wanted an NRC for the entire country. If that is so, Assam's NRC could have been a model for the whole of the country, he added.
By-
R Dutta Choudhury
