NEW DELHI, July 30 - The opposition parties today disrupted the proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament over the Assam NRC, while the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day even as Home Minister Rajnath Singh tried to pacify an agitated opposition led by the Trinamool Congress by asserting that it was only a draft and not the final document.
�Today NRC draft list has been published in Assam. I want to emphatically say that this is only a draft and not the final NRC,� the Home Minister said. �Everyone will have full opportunity to file objections as per provisions in law. Only after disposal of claims and objections, the final NRC will be published,� he said.
�Some people are unnecessarily trying to create an atmosphere of fear. I want to assure all that there is no need for any apprehension or fear. Some misinformation is also being spread. The NRC process has been done impartially. Some people may not have been able to submit necessary documents. They will get full opportunity through the claims and objections process.
�I want to clarify that even after the final NRC every person will get an opportunity to approach the Foreigners Tribunal,� he assured. �This means that even those whose names do not figure in the final NRC will get an opportunity to approach the Tribunal. There is no question of any coercive action against anyone,� Singh said.
The NRC process is being carried out with complete fairness and transparency and it has been monitored by the Supreme Court, he added.
There was uproar in both the Houses since the morning. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned in the morning till 12 noon and further adjourned till 2:20 pm, as the House witnessed pandemonium. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu finally adjourned the House for the day, when Trinamool Congress MP Derek O�Brien insisted on a discussion on the NRC based on an adjournment motion moved by the party.
In the afternoon in the Lok Sabha, the Union Home Minister participating in a zero hour discussion on the issue said that it is not the Government of India but the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the exercise. �The government has no role,� he asserted.
�I appeal to all not to sensationalise such a sensitive issue. The exercise was not started by this government but by some other government. After the process of claims and objections is over the next step has to be decided by the Supreme Court,� Singh said. �There is no need for panic,� he said amid interruptions.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the NRC had declared 3.2 crore people as authenticated citizens of Assam, but deleted 40 lakh names from the declared list.
�Now, where will these 40 lakh people go? It is most inhuman and torture upon their mentality. So, I would request the Central government and Home Minister Rajnath Singh... to see that some step is taken... and justice should not be denied to these people,� he said.
�I cannot understand as to why such a thing is happening only in Assam. What about other states? ...I think, the government will take it up with utmost priority to give relief to those people...,� he said, adding, �justice should not be denied to them.�
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Mohammad Salim and Jay Prakash Yadav also participated in the discussion.
Eventually, the entire Opposition barring the Telugu Desam Party, BJD and NCP staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha.
