GUWAHATI: Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta , who was at the forefront of the anti-foreigner movement, on Tuesday said other states should not oppose the exercise of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam but follow its precedent.

"Monday was a historic day for the people of Assam as this was a long-pending demand in the state. Other states should not oppose the NRC update exercise. The draft does not discriminate against Bengalis or Muslims. It is just a process of identifying genuine Indian citizens. Other states should follow this example and come up with their own NRCs to identify illegal immigrants," Mahanta told the media on Tuesday.

Updating the NRC of 1951 was one of the major clauses of the Assam Accord which was signed in 1985 after the six-year-long Assam Agitation. Mahanta, who was one of signatories of the accord, called the NRC a "homage to the 855 martyrs of the movement".

Though 40 lakh people have been excluded from the updated draft, they will now get opportunities to file complaints to prove their citizenship status. Mahanta hoped that the final NRC will be fool-proof. He also dismissed the idea of granting long-term visas to people whose names are not included in the final NRC. "That is completely unacceptable. Our police and administration are not strict enough to follow up on these cases," he said.

