34 years after Assam pact, NRC brings little rejoice

The final National Register of Citizens (NRC) seems to have failed to bring in the expected rejoice to the people of Assam, who were waiting for over three decades for the resolution of the vexed problem of infiltration.

As the final NRC was published on Saturday, political and non-political organisations in unison condemned the document that excluded 1.9 million people.

Expressing its unhappiness, the Assam BJP said the final NRC had excluded many genuine citizens and included many illegal foreigners.

"Former Assam Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia had said there were 3 million illegal Bangladeshis in Assam. Union Minister S.P. Jaisawal had claimed 5 million illegal foreigners in the state. If that is so, how can there be only 1.9 million illegal foreigners," said Assam BJP chief Ranjit Kumar Dass.

The final NRC excluded 19,06,657 people, and found 3,11,21,004 eligible for inclusion.

The Congress said there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to indicate that 19,06,659 people, excluded from the final NRC, included many genuine citizens, cutting across linguistic and religious lines.

"The names of some were included and others excluded despite belonging to the same family and submitting the same legacy data," said Debabrata Saikia, Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly.

The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), which had been vocal regarding updation of the NRC, expressed dejection over exclusion of only 1.9 million from the final list and said it would soon approach the Supreme Court for a remedy.

"We feel there is some error in the final NRC. The NRC was updated through a legal process, monitored by the Supreme Court. We have faith in the apex court and we will move it for the remedy," said AASU chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya.

The Assam Public Works, a civil society organisation, which had filed the first petition in the Supreme Court seeking updation of the NRC, expressed its disappointment and said would seek the President's intervention.

The NRC assumes significance as the state had witnessed six-year-long anti-foreigners' agitation seeking detection and deportation of Bangladeshi infiltrators. Spear-headed by the students' community, the agitation between 1979 and 1985 claimed over 855 lives and left thousands others maimed for their lives.

IANS