NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India

on Sunday said there was a “lack of acceptance of the diverse”, and warned people raising objections against the NRC process, including on the cut-off date, that they “are playing with fire”.

With a fortnight to go before he demits office, the CJI asked people to ponder over growing intolerance towards diversity and the choices we have as a nation.

“Unfortunately, the simple idea of acceptance, especially of people who may be different or diverse from us, is an idea from which people are at a great distance. We seem to be in an era where our failure to accept what is different from us is no longer considered a shortcoming. In fact, we wear such failure on our sleeves with misplaced pride and vanity,” CJI Gogoi said.

Underscoring the acceptance of diversity as an idea upon which all societies grew, he added, “The present world around us seems to suggest otherwise. But I consider this fundamental if we, as a nation, are to plan our future and if our choices as a nation are to remain the same.”

Justice Gogoi was speaking at the launch of a book, ‘Post-Colonial Assam’ by Mrinal Talukdar, a veteran journalist. The book chronicles historical events like the Assam agitation and the

, which sought to identify and weed out illegal immigrants from the state.

The CJI, however, wondered whether the decades of struggle had thrown up any tangible outcomes.

“The Assam Accord of 1985 and its concomitant features, introduction of Section 6A in the Citizenship Act and the promise of a

, was an attempt to evolve a solution within the legal framework. I ask myself what are the results,” CJI Gogoi said. “Section 6A is waiting for a nod from the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. The NRC is not without contestations,” he added.

“The Assamese people have displayed great magnanimity and large-heartedness in accepting various cut-off dates for preparation of the NRC. All these dates are at a considerable distance from the time when the first onslaught of forced migration hit the Assamese people... Humaneness is acceptance. That is one of the first steps towards inclusivity. It needs to be told and brought on record that people who raise objections, including (on) these cut-off dates, are playing with fire,” CJI Gogoi said.

Terming the NRC as a “base document for the future”, the CJI criticised “armchair commentators” for fuelling rumours. “The NRC as it may finally emerge is not a document of the moment. Nineteen lakh or 40 lakh is not the point. It (the NRC) is the base document for the future. It’s a document to which one can refer to, to determine future claims. This, in my opinion, is the intrinsic value of the NRC,” the CJI, who has been monitoring the NRC process, said.

“Let me take this occasion to clarify — the NRC is neither new nor noble. The current NRC is an attempt to update the 1951 NRC. Prior to this exercise, the whole discourse has been repeatedly fed with enormous amount of guesswork as to the number of illegal migrants, which, in turn, fuelled panic and fear and vicious cycles of violence and lawlessness,” he said. Irresponsible reporting by a few media outlets worsened the situation, he added.

Justice Hrishikesh Roy of the Supreme Court, who was a guest at the event, narrated how there was a slot vacant for an exhibit in the apex court's museum. “The exhibit will soon be filled with the

verdict," Justice Roy said. A five-judge bench headed by CJI Gogoi is expected to deliver the Ayodhya judgment in the next few days.