As the National Register of Citizens exercise nears completion in Assam, it has come under severe attack by the opposition. In a fresh salvo, former chief minister Tarun Gogoi has claimed that he is apprehensive that a lot of genuine Indian citizens will be left out of the NRC.
The final draft of the updated NRC, which aims to weed out illegal immigrants, is scheduled to be released on June 30.
Prateek Hajela, the state coordinator of the Supreme Court monitored NRC, however, rubbished these allegations. “We are confident that the second and complete draft of the NRC will be accurate,” he said. The draft which is scheduled to come out on June 30, is expected to be delayed after floods in parts of the state.
Gogoi, who claims the NRC is “my brainchild”, said he is apprehensive because the first draft left out many names. “Genuine Indian citizens, including MLAs, MPs, journalists were not part of it,” he said. The first draft which came out on January 1, had names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore who applied.
“I am not the only one who is apprehensive. In Brahmaputra Valley and Barak Valley, there are religious and linguistic minorities who share the same apprehension,” Gogoi said.
{{/usCountry}}“I am not the only one who is apprehensive. In Brahmaputra Valley and Barak Valley, there are religious and linguistic minorities who share the same apprehension,” Gogoi said.
{{/usCountry}}The former chief minister said the way the state approached the Centre for deployment of additional forces has only added to the suspicion that genuine Indian citizens will be left out. “The government sought 150 companies of paramilitary forces. They had a drill in Morigaon. Only if genuine Indian citizens are left out, there is bound to be resentment and they will fight back,” he said.