SILCHAR, July 20 - The gaga about protecting the Hindu refugees coming to Assam being victims of political and social persecution is only a verbally doctored promises from the political leadership in the State and also in the country, feels Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury, chief advisor to Citizens Rights Protection Committee (CRPC), Assam. In his words, �giving citizenship rights to Hindu refugees needs laws to be enacted in the Parliament and not flurry of words and promises.�
Condemning the unwritten guarantees on giving rights to the Hindu refugees to buy land dished out by BJP national president Amit Shah, Choudhury said that calling strikes on the issue of National Register of Citizenship (NRC) shall remain ineffective sans a legal pursuit. He criticised the role of the State Government on the complexities in the NRC form and also on its officials engaged in accepting the forms at various NRC Seva Kendras who are spreading panic among the people.
�A vicious circle has its tail up to spoil the NRC updation process. There is no rule which says that the papers will be scrutinized at the point of submission. But in some NSKs in Cachar district the applicants are facing this peculiar and extremely harassing situation,� Choudhury said adding that the CRPC will submit a memorandum against the practice seeking attention of the Deputy Commissioner and also the State Nodal Officer on NRC.
Choudhury who is also a veteran advocate of Gauhati High Court said that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is spreading confusion with his inconsistent remarks on picking up 2014 electoral rolls to be the basis for determining the NRC. �If the Chief Minister is so concerned about fixing the 2014 electoral rolls, what stopped him from filing any affidavit in the court,� he questioned. He also mentioned that those who are raising demands for 2014 electoral rolls to be the base year for NRC are being �misguided� by some vested interest groups who are hellbent to mar the process of updation.
Asked about what the CRPC has done in this regard, the chief advisor said that the committee has filed a case in the court highlighting 13 important points including setting up at least two NSKs in every gaon panchayats, accepting certificates of woman from other States married to citizens of Assam, accepting school level certificates issued by heads of the institutes as not many people have Board/University certificates etc. Choudhury has urged upon the political parties and associations who are voicing demands on NRC to come under one platform and echo their demands in New Delhi for the partition victims who came to settle in Assam.
