GUWAHATI, July 24 � The Assam unit of BJP today held State-wide protests demanding National Register of Citizens (NRC) update pilot project in Barpeta and Kamrup districts be resumed immediately and blamed vested interests for stalling it.
A BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to Governor J B Patnaik seeking direction to the State Government to restart the NRC pilot project in Barpeta district and Chaygaon in Kamrup (Rural) district.
The party�s move came after a group of All Assam Minority Students Union activists on July 21 pelted stones and set ablaze a building in the premises of the Deputy Commissioner�s office in Barpeta town in a bid to stop updating of NRC work in progress there. At least four students were killed and 50 injured in the subsequent police firing.
The BJP members demanded a roadmap for updating of the NRC in the State so that it was not confined to one pilot project.
They also demanded arrest and punishment of those responsible for arson and rioting at Barpeta.
�The demographic change in Assam, driven largely by unchecked illegal migration was hurtling the State in a direction where all kinds of social and political tension will germinate and thrive. This is inimical to our national interest,� BJP spokesman Kulendra Daulagopu told reporters here.
�It came as no surprise that AAMSU in the guise of popular protest precipitated a law and order situation in Barpeta,� he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the NRC updating work had been only temporarily suspended suspecting instigation by some subversive forces. � PTI
