ASSAM: CONGRESS URGES RAJNATH SINGH TO STOP DELETION OF NAMES OF LAKHS OF INDIANS FROM NRC

19 July 2018:

The Congress in Assam has urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene and stop the move of authority of National Register of Citizens (NRC) to delete the names of several lakhs of genuine Indian citizens.

In a memorandum to Singh, Assam Pradesh Congress chief Ripun Bora wrote: “As per the inputs we have received from different parts of the state, the names of several lakhs of Indian citizens will find no place in the draft NRC due to some political interferences of the Assam government where they wanted to misuse the NRC for political gain by creating religious polarization”.

He said it was surprising that the Supreme Court had directed to delete the names of 1.50 lakh people which appeared in the NRC first draft of 1.9 corer people published last year.

“Apart from keeping on hold the names of 1.25 lakh D-voters and their descendants, the names of approximately 90 thousand declared foreigners and their descendants will not appear in the draft NRC of July 30, 2018. In addition to this, the names of another 1.72 lakh persons and their descendants, whose cases are pending in the foreigners’ tribunals, will also not appear in the Draft NRC. We have specific information that names of several lakhs of people of religious and linguistic minorities and Nepali community will be deleted from the draft NRC,” Bora said.

He also wrote: “Now there is panic on this issue everywhere in Assam. If, as we apprehend, the names of several lakhs of genuine Indian citizens are left out, it will not only be an injustice but abuse of Constitutional powers. And, this way, people will lose faith in the administrative system of the country. Apart from this, some vested interested groups and anti-social elements may take advantage to create social unrest by provoking the genuine Indians whose names are left out”.

The Congress urged the Union Home Minister to immediately intervene in the matter.