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NESO to move Centre for NRC in NE states

By R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, Aug 8 - The North East Students� Organization (NESO), an umbrella organization of the students� bodies of the states of the region, has decided to formally place a demand before the Central Government for preparing National Register of Citizens (NRC) in all the states of North East. Meanwhile, the constituents of the NESO will also place the demand before the respective State Governments.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, NESO chairman Samuel Jyrwa said that the problem of infiltration of foreigners has affected not only Assam but also the other states of the region. He pointed out that a few states are comparatively in better position because of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system, but there is need for preparation of NRC in all the states of the region for protection of the interests of the indigenous people. He said that the indigenous people of Tripura have already been reduced to minorities in their own homeland, while, Assam is facing a similar situation. If the problem is not dealt with immediately, the other states of the region may face the same situation in the days to come, he added.

Jyrwa pointed out that since its formation in the early part of 1990s, the NESO has been demanding preparation of NRC in the states of the region and the organization would soon place the demand formally before the Central Government. He said that the Khasi Students� Union (KSU) has already placed the demand for preparation of NRC before the Meghalaya Government and the other constituents of the NESO would place the similar demand before the respective state governments soon. He said that as most parts of the NE states were parts of Assam during 1951 when the first NRC was prepared, it should not be a major problem in updating the same as was done in Assam.

The NESO chairman hailed the publication of the draft of the NRC in Assam and described it as a positive step. He said that the NRC would reflect the gravity of the situation arising out of illegal migration of foreign nationals.

Jyrwa said that Meghalaya is also facing the serious problem of infiltration and immediate steps should be taken to deal with the situation. He said that after the publication of the draft of the NRC in Assam, there is apprehension that there could be a major exodus of illegal migrants from Assam to Meghalaya. He said that Meghalaya police has started checking the people moving to Meghalaya from Assam following demands from the KSU.

The NESO chairman also alleged that majority of the illegal migrants staying in Meghalaya went to the state through Assam. �The illegal migrants normally come to Assam by taking advantage of the porous international border and they manage to obtain some document in Assam before proceeding to Meghalaya,� he said. He also demanded that the entire international border with Bangladesh should be sealed without further delay.

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