GUWAHATI, Aug 30 - Calling upon the people not to get swayed by rumours and hearsay, major political parties in the State have urged everybody on the eve of publication of the final NRC to maintain peace and amity, while also stating that they will provide help, including legal assistance, to �genuine Indian citizens� whose names may fail to make it to the document.
The ruling BJP has directed all its MLAs and senior party leaders to leave for their respective constituencies to monitor the situation at the local level and ensure that no untoward incidents occur.
�After discussing the matter with the Chief Minister, our State unit president Ranjeet Kumar Dass has directed all party legislators and senior leaders to spend the next three days in their respective constituencies. They have been told to keep an eye on the situation post publication of the final NRC. Besides, they have been directed to extend all help to genuine Indian citizens who may, for some reason or the other, fail to make it to the register. At the same time, we urge people not to panic. There are modalities in place for people who may fail to make it to the NRC,� State BJP general secretary Pulak Gohain told The Assam Tribune today.
He added that the State BJP is also getting ready to extend legal assistance to Indian citizens whose names may get excluded from the final document.
�We will provide legal help to any Indian citizen whose name may be missing from the NRC. We have a legal team in our party. We will soon call a meeting of the Legal Cell and discuss on ways to carry forward this thing and formulate a strategy accordingly. We are committed to an error-free NRC,� Gohain said.
It is noteworthy that the BJP had earlier this week expressed scepticism about the way the NRC updating work has been undertaken and said that it believes the document will not be error-free. The party had also said that it is of the view that if any genuine Indian citizen is left out of the NRC, then the Parliament and the Assam Legislative Assembly should, in future, frame new laws to ensure justice to such people.
Principal opposition Congress has already activated its legal department to take up the cause of �genuine Indian citizens whose names may get excluded from the final NRC�, said Apurba Bhattacharya, general secretary of the party�s State unit.
�Being a national political party we have a duty to ensure protection of the rights of all Indian citizens. We have issued directions to our legal department to extend all help to genuine Indian citizens free of cost. Responsibilities have been assigned to our team of lawyers across all districts,� he said.
Bhattacharya said that as the NRC updating process was carried out under direct supervision of the Supreme Court, the party is hopeful of an error-free register.
�However, if there emerge any discrepancies on account of any reason, then legal ways exist to rectify individual complaints. We have faith that people of the State will not get swayed by rumours and we urge all to maintain peace and amity,� he added.
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) president Badruddin Ajmal said that his party has a tradition of extending legal assistance to needy people.
�We helped people during the NRC updating process as well as those who lacked resources while facing cases in Foreigners Tribunals (FT) or as D-voters. We have experience of providing such assistance and now also we will extend all help to Indian citizens, irrespective of caste and religion,� he said.
Ajmal added, �We hope for an error-free NRC as we have total faith in the Supreme Court. However, if any Indian citizen is left out due to some technical reasons or due to some errors like spelling mistake, we have our legal cells in various districts that are ready to offer all help. Such persons have 120 days to approach FTs. So there is no reason to be apprehensive. People must be cautious and not pay heed to any rumours and fake news.�
