GUWAHATI, July 28 - The Patriotic People�s Front Assam (PPFA) has urged all sections of society to exercise restraint while commenting on the issue of National Register of Citizens (NRC), as divisive forces are seemingly trying their best to divide the greater Assamese society on linguistic and religious lines.
�It is observed that a few local, national and also international elements are currently engaged in unwanted debates over the NRC updating process in Assam. We must not deviate from the issue as the massive citizen register exercise has been monitored by none other than our apex court,� said a statement issued by the PPFA.
As the date for release of the second and final NRC draft is approaching, relentless debates have surfaced in the country, where various motivated political leaders, social activists, intellectuals and international campaigners have started branding the exercise as anti-Bengali or anti-Muslim.
Recently a hundred thousand people from different parts of the world signed an online petition opposing the NRC updating process. Launched by �Avaaz � The World in Action� and titled �India: Stop Deleting Muslims�, the petition claimed that India was erasing the names of millions of Muslims in Assam from the legitimate register of citizens.
Earlier, four UN special rapporteurs wrote to New Delhi expressing their concern over the discrimination faced by Bengali Muslim families in Assam to get enrolled their names in the NRC. They are also worried that India has no official policy to address the families who would be excluded from the final citizenship list.
Meanwhile, all disturbing speculations were denounced by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who asserted that the NRC updating exercise was carried out meticulously according to the law with all transparency and impartiality.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also has assured that every individual would get justice under the law in the entire process.
The PPFA reiterated its old argument that the Centre should think about offering work permits (without voting rights) to those who would be identified as illegal foreigners after due processes. India as a tolerant country should not indulge in any kinds of physical elimination of those foreigners and must avoid serious humanitarian crisis, it added.
The forum put forward its demand for a comprehensive NRC applicable to the whole country on the basis of 1951. Soon after the process in Assam ends, the experience should be shared with other states for further course of actions, the forum commented, adding that it would help in promoting the security aspect and also developmental activities across the populous nation.
