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Updated: Jun 24, 2020 22:50 IST

The updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be released on Saturday was expected to be the final closure of foreigners’ issue plaguing Assam for four decades, but that might not happen.

Even before publication of the final list, political parties especially the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam have questioned the list’s credibility saying it might not be error-free.

“Persons declared foreigners are involved in the NRC updating process while people who were part of Assam agitation and even the Independence movement have got excluded (from the drafts released earlier). So how can we be satisfied with such a list?” questioned Assam BJP chief Ranjeet Dass during a press meet earlier this week.

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The BJP is upset with alleged exclusions of ‘genuine Indian citizens’ and inclusion of ‘foreigners’ in the list. Dass said that instructions have been issued to the party’s 40 lakh members in the state to seek out genuine Indians left out of the final NRC and help them file appeals.

Exclusion row

The BJP’s apprehensions stem from a list released by the state government in the assembly this month which showed rate of exclusions of applicants in districts bordering Bangladesh from the complete NRC draft released in July 2018 was lower than the state average.

While 12.5% was the average rate of exclusion for the state, in border districts of South Salmara, Karimganj and Dhubri, the rates were 7.22%, 7.57% and 8.26% respectively.

“But the rate of exclusions in districts like Karbi Anglong (14.31%) and Tinsukia (13.25%) where indigenous people have resided for centuries is higher (than state average),” parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told the assembly.

BJP feels the district wise break up of exclusions is indicative of genuine Indians getting left out of the NRC while those whose citizenship is suspect have managed to enter the list.

Last month, the Centre and Assam government has appealed to Supreme Court seeking re-verification of those included in the list. But the apex court turned down the plea citing state NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela’s plea that 27% applicants had already been re-verified after publication of the complete NRC draft last year.

Legislative measures?

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has already indicated that his government might adopt legislative measures to correct “anomalies” in the final NRC after it is published. While he didn’t specify the measures, it is speculated that it could mean the Centre passing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 in parliament.

If passed, the Bill, which seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangaldesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, could pave the way for Hindus from Bangladesh who came to India after March 24, 1971 (the cut-off date for NRC) to get included in NRC.

Opposition parties think BJP, which had earlier made claims to throwing out illegal immigrants if it came to power, is not serious about doing that and is trying to prolong the issue for political gain.

AIDUF counter

“We are surprised at the statements of BJP leaders ahead of the final list. Instead of closing the foreigners issue with publication of an error-free NRC, they want to keep it alive for electoral benefits,” said Aminul Islam, general secretary of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).

“There could be minor errors, but we have full faith in the process monitored by Supreme Court. We appeal to the public not to fall for BJP’s tactics and maintain calm. Our party will give legal aid to genuine Indians left out of final NRC,” he added.

Misinformation, says Cong

Congress state president Ripun Bora accused BJP leaders of spreading misinformation even before publication of the final NRC and urged the Sonowal government to take action against them.

All Assam Students Union (AASU), the state’s biggest student body which led the 1979-1985 Assam Agitation against foreigners that saw 855 deaths and culminated in signing of the Assam Accord, also accuses BJP of pushing its political agenda instead of greater good of Assamese people.

“Earlier BJP used to blame Congress of appeasing Muslims for vote-bank politics. Now they are doing the same with Hindus. We should respect the NRC process, which is being monitored by SC, but instead of a permanent solution, BJP wants to keep the foreigners issue alive,” said AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi.

‘Parties looking for petty gains’

Senior journalist Samudra Gupta Kashyap blamed political parties for looking at petty gains when the final NRC list is to be released while initially all parties had arrived at a consensus that updating the 1951 NRC was the best option to address the foreigners issue.

“Most parties now realize that NRC can’t be manipulated as it has been prepared on basis on Assam Accord and as per law hence they are trying find faults with the process. Some of these parties are responsible for infiltration of illegal immigrants and facilitating procurement of various documents for them,” he said.

“The NRC process is being monitored by SC, if these parties had any issues they should have approached it. What is most dangerous is that people of Assam have been projected as anti-nationals, which is highly deplorable,” he added.