GUWAHATI: For Bengali-dominated Barak valley , the final draft NRC that was released on Monday, came as a “myth-buster” that the region is “infested” with immigrants from Bangladesh.

Inclusion of large number of names in the final draft came as a validation for the valley of some 36 Lakh population that majority of the people are citizens.

According to officials, out of 41 lakh applicants, some 4 lakh people’s names were not included in the final draft. This is in stark contrast to the first draft released on December 31 last year when out of 41 lakh applicants, 24 Lakh people were excluded. There were large-scale protests in Barak valley when approximately 40% of people’s names there did not figure in the first draft.

In the final draft, 1,12,109 (8.47 %) were excluded in Karimganj , 55,000 (8%) in Hailakandi and 2,28,762 lakh (12.58%) in Cachar districts of Barak valley.

In the final draft, out of total 3.29 lakh applicants, 40.07 Lakh people could not make it. NRC coordinator, Prateek Hajela said that the reasons for deletion of the names in the final draft will be individually informed to the persons who were excluded. Hajela said that persons excluded from the final draft will have the opportunity to file claims and objections. Among the 40.7 Lakh, about 2.48 Lakh are doubtful “D” voters, declared foreigners and their descendants.

“For long a myth has been nurtured in Assam that Barak valley is infested with immigrants from Bangladesh. Now I think this myth should demolish with majority of the applicants in the valley making it to the final draft,” history researcher and writer based in Barak valley, Sanjib Deb Laskar said.

Laskar hoped even among four lakh people left out in the final draft in the valley, many names would get entered in NRC subsequently through claims and objections because many were left out because of erroneous entries and technical errors.

Social activist and convener of Unconditional Citizenship Demand Forum (UCDF),Kamal Chakraborty said for years Barak valley has been looked down upon on the assumption that people from Bangladesh randomly settled in the valley.

“This assumption should come to an end with the findings in the final draft. There were times when Barak was equated with Bangladeshis. The fact is that majority of people in the valley are Indian nationals,” Chakraborty said.

Barak valley was part of undivided Sylhet district now in Bangladesh before partition in 1947. The valley witnessed large scale migration during partition in 1967 and creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

According to some observers there were migration especially Hindus in Barak valley from Bangladesh after 1971 especially during the rule of Zia Ur Rahman in the late 1970s and Khaleda Zia in the 1990s and 2001-2006. Social and cultural organisations in Barak valley demanded that those migrated from Bangladesh were mainly due to persecutions and should be rehabilitated as partition victims.

