GUWAHATI, May 10 - The Congress today submitted a memorandum to NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela alleging that religious and linguistic minorities are facing harassment during the claims and objections process.
The Congress delegation led by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Debabrata Saikia, said people are being called to distant places for hearing of claims and objections, which causes them mental, physical and financial harassment.
�The Supreme Court had requested the State Coordinator to ensure that at the time of hearing of the claims, steps should be taken to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the persons required to attend the hearing and to see that they are not required to travel long distances, if possible. Unfortunately, people are being called to attend hearings at distant places, causing considerable inconvenience. In some cases, different members of the same family have been summoned for hearing to different districts on the same day,� the delegation said in the memorandum.
The Congress further said that a large number of objections have been filed in �cyclostyled manner, in total violation of law�, only with a view to harassing genuine Indian citizens and derailing the entire process. The objectors are neither attending the hearings, nor disclosing their identities, the opposition party said.
The Congress demanded that the hearing venues be fixed within the local area of the claimants and the persons facing objections.
�Those objections which lack detailed particulars of the objectors should be rejected. Also, those objections wherein the objectors shun the hearings be decided ex-parte and be rejected,� the Congress said, also demanding details about the objectors in the notices served.
