GUWAHATI, April 2 - Questioning the silence of all the major political parties of the State over the issue of disappearance of 70,000 declared foreigners, senior Supreme Court advocate and Prabrajan Virodhi Manch convener Upamanyu Hazarika today said that the present NRC can never protect the indigenous people from becoming a minority in Assam.
�It is a matter of great shame and tragedy for the people of Assam and citizens of India that 70,000 declared foreigners have not only gone missing but also found their way in the NRC as well as electoral rolls. All major political parties in Assam, fighting elections on the foreigners issues, are maintaining silence in this regard. It only shows their cynical disregard towards the issues on which they are fighting the elections,� Hazarika said while addressing the media here.
Hazarika is contesting from Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency as an independent candidate.
All the three major political parties in Assam have indigenous leaders at their helm and they occupy such position by virtue of support from the indigenous communities, but have shown no hesitation in betraying their own people, he alleged.
Also criticising the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for his �clever silence� on such crucial issues for the sake of his post and position, he said that State Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also tries to shift the blame on AAMSU and Arshad Madani for inclusion of foreigners in NRC, conveniently ignoring the fact that the entire NRC process was being carried out under the control and supervision of his party�s government.
�Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, during his tenure, successfully established Bangladeshis in Upper Assam right up to Sarupathar so that there is a secure vote bank for his son at Kaliabor,� he alleged.
Also questioning the NRC process, he pointed to a number of discrepancies reported in the process, including the inclusion of the names of people who have been declared foreigners.
�They have made the entire NRC process a farce. The only way now is to form an independent committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and the reverification of NRC to be carried out by officials from other states, as the origins of many local, ground-level officials can be traced to present-day Bangladesh, who might have affinities towards those people,� he said. Hazarika also alleged that the last four years of the NRC process have amply proved that all political parties of the State and the leaders in power and out of power are ready to betray the indigenous cause.
