Refugees from Bangladesh Have Been Left Out of Final NRC, Alleges Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati, September 2, 2019:

Finance Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has time-and-again reiterated that the final National Register of Citizens (NRC), published on Saturday, is inaccurate. After the draft was published on Saturday, the Minister took to Twitter to allege that refugees who had come from Bangladesh to India as refugees, had been excluded from the final NRC.

"Names of many Indian citizens who migrated from Bangladesh as refugees prior to 1971 have not been included in the NRC because authorities refused to accept refugee certificates. Many names got included because of manipulation of legacy data as alleged by many", he wrote.

"I reiterate that as requested by Central and State governments at least 20% reverification (bordering districts) and 10% re-verification(remaining districts) should be allowed by Honble Apex court for a correct and fair NRC", he further added.

Many refugees in Assam have echoed a similar sentiment. Refugees, mostly belonging to tribal communities, living in Derapathar of Assam, for instance, have expressed their dismay after their names were omitted from the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

It may be mentioned here that many individuals, as well as organizations have expressed their displeasure with the final NRC draft. The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) leader, Samujjal Bhattacharya, has even vowed to move the Supreme Court over alleged discrepancies.

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