DOOMDOOMA, Sept 6 - The Prabrajan Virodhi Manch (PVM) has flayed Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the NRC issue.
In a press release, PVM chief and senior advocate Upamanyu Hazarika said, �The Chief Minister and the State Government have been stating that the issue of NRC re-verification is pending with the Supreme Court and the government is therefore awaiting the Supreme Court�s decision, thereby disowning all responsibility in this regard. The legal and factual position have been completely misstated by the Chief Minister and his government.�
�The Chief Minister in his speech before the state BJP executive and response to a question in the Assembly on August 31 had said that the issue of NRC reverification is pending before the Supreme Court and an affidavit from the government had been filed in July 2019�.
�The falsity of this assertion is evident not only from the Supreme Court order, but also communication from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs dated December 2, 2019, which very clearly recorded that the Supreme Court had dismissed the plea for reverification. It is clear that the Chief Minister and the State government�s stand have been falsified by the Central government,� Hazarika added.
Hazarika further said, �The power to review and reverify the NRC is an executive power/decision vested in the District Registrar, usually the District Magistrate under the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of Nation Identity Card) Rule 2003 and this is obtained in Rule 10 of the above rules where the particulars provided by the individuals or the family are found to be incorrect, the person can be removed from the NRC.�
�The legal position as obtained today is that after publication of the final NRC on August 31, 2019, the power to review and reverify any entry in the NRC is vested with the government and there is therefore no need to apply to the court. In any case, the application for reverification preferred by the Central and State governments in July 2019 was the draft NRC, which was finally dismissed. Thereafter, in the final NRC which was made public on August 31, 2019, the power to reverify rests with the government�, said the PVM chief.
The senior advocate and PVM chief also stated in the press release: �It is clear that neither the Chief Minister nor his government have any interest in NRC reverification, otherwise they would not deliberately obstruct the process of reverification by making false assertions and pushing the responsibility to the Supreme Court.�
�The NRC in it�s present form will reduce the indigenous people to a minority as against the UPA government�s assessment of 50 lakh in 2004, NDA government assessment of 80 lakh infiltrators in 2016, while the present NRC has excluded only 19 lakh, including a large number of foreigners.�
�But the present government which grabbed the reins of power at Dispur by riding the crest of an emotional wave on the promise of protecting indigenous identity, has willingly permitted a large number of foreigners to become citizens�.
