Assam Govt Claims Bangladeshi Muslims Included in NRC, Tribals Excluded

Guwahati, August 4, 2019:

The Assam Government is pushing for 're-verification' before publishing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) because of some rather surprising data which was recently produced by Minister Chandramohan Patowary in the Assam Assembly.

There was hue-and-cry in the Assam Assembly when BJP legislator Debananda Hazarika cast his doubts over the NRC. “A fair NRC will be like the Magna Carta but a flawed one would threaten the integrity and sovereignty of the country,” he had said.

Hazarika's sentiment was echoed by Minister Chandramohan Patowary , who said that many people in tribal areas have been excluded, whereas Bangladesh-bordering areas have seen a high percentage of their population included in the NRC.

“In the indigenous and tribal-dominated districts such as Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, Baksa and Sonitpur, 14-15% people have been excluded. Likewise, 22% people in Bongaigaon and 18% in Guwahati have been excluded", he said, casting doubts over the accuracy of the NRC.

Patowary 90% of the names in four districts bordering Bangladesh had been included, while many have been excluded in districts dominated by indigenous people. The data said 91.78%, 92.33%, 91.96% and 92.78% people in Muslim-dominated Dhubri, Karimganj, Hailakandi and South Salmara districts have been included in the NRC.

Another legislator, Hojai MLA Shiladitya Dev, claimed that NRC co-ordinator is including Bangladeshi nationals in the NRC and added that Hajela's 'one-man show' must end.

The Assam NRC Co-ordinator has also come under fire from the administration for using 50,000 State Govt employees and spending Rs. 12,000 of taxpayers' money to make an NRC list which still leaves "room for doubt", as per the Assam administration and Patowary.

It may be mentioned that the Assam administration has been pushing for re-verification of the applications for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in light of these latest revelations.

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