Assam: Congress MP Abdul Khaleque Lambasts New NRC Coordinator for Supporting Arnab Goswami's 'Logic'

Guwahati, November 13, 2019:

Assam Congress MP, Abdul Khaleque, on Wednesday, expressed his dissatisfaction with the appointment of bureaucrat Hitesh Dev Sarma as the new NRC coordinator of Assam.

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While addressing the press in Guwahati, Khaleque said while Prateek Hajela was the NRC Co-ordinator, he took the process forward. "Hajela published the final NRC, which left out nineteen lakh people, among which, many are believed to be indigenous Assamese", he said.

Khaleque also said that the appointment Hitesh Dev Sarma as the successor of Hajela proves that the Central Government is trying to target a particular community. "This person has put forth many controversial statements, which proves that the Central Government does not want a free and fair NRC", he said.

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Saying that Government officials should be unbiased, Khaleque said that the prior controversial statements by Dev Sarma, prove his bias. Pulling out skeletons from Sarma's social media closet to prove his point, Khaleque said that Dev Sarma's unflinching support for controversial news anchor, is not acceptable. Khaleque said that the following statement by Dev Sarma prove that he would be biased: "I like Arnab Goswami's logic. We cannot accept a foreigner as Indian if he speaks Assamese".

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It may be mentioned here that the Assam government on Saturday appointed ACS Hitesh Dev Sarma as the new State Coordinator of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

Hitesh Dev Sarma is currently posted as the Secretary to the government of Assam in the Urban Development Department. Earlier, he was associated with the beginning process of NRC.

Sarma’s appointment comes amid reports that bureaucrats were reluctant to take up the position after the former coordinator, Prateek Hajela’s unceremonious exit.

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