GUWAHATI, Aug 21 - The Deuri Sangram Samiti, the Tai Khamati Jatiya Sanmilan and the Thengal Kachari Jatiya Sangathan, in a joint statement, have alleged that the authorities concerned have facilitated the listing of the names of refugees as citizens in the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC).
For the purpose, these authorities have declared the refugee certificates issued to the refugees of foreign origin between 1951 and 1971, as the base papers, alleged the organisations.
The organisations have claimed that the Indian Constitution has no provision for according citizenship to the refugees. But the authorities concerned have now made a bid to accept the refugee certificates issued to the migrants of foreign-origin as valid documents to enter their names in the updated NRC.
Names of many such refugees have been included in the updated NRC, going against the provisions of the country�s constitution, they said.
They denounced the said move of the authorities concerned as communal, and hence a blow to the secular essence of the Indian Constitution. They have warned all those organisations which have been lending support to this move.
Legal experts here told this newspaper that the Government of India has been maintaining that there is no legal provision to grant citizenship to the refugees.
Moreover, there is no legal framework for refugees in India. Everything related to the refugees is governed by executive orders here. Therefore, the recent notifications on the refugees are not enforceable in absence of any legal framework, added the experts.
