Assam: 80% of Claimants in Baksa's Khandikar Village Excluded from Final NRC List

Baksa, September 1, 2019:

Over nineteen lakh people have been declared 'stateless' after the publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. Many of the people who have been excluded hail from Assam's Baksa district, which falls under the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

In a village, where over 80% of the claimants had been excluded from the NRC, the villagers wore grim faces. Many of these people, whose names have been excluded, expressed their woes to Inside Northeast on Saturday.

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Abubakar Ali, an old man, said that his name was in the 1971 NRC, but his name was mistakenly written as 'Abubakar Shaikh'. "Maybe that is why I have been excluded", he sighed. It has been alleged that the NRC authorities had assumed that 'Abubakar Ali' and 'Abubakar Shaikh' were two different people.

Abdul Karim, another man from the village, was excluded, whereas his elder brother had been included. "My brother family has been included, whereas I have been excluded. We have the same legacy data. How can this be?", a confused Abdul Karim Khan asks.

Yet another villager had another sad tale to tell. "We went to the hearings, produced all the documents, and yet, we have not been included", he lamented.

This has been the story of the NRC so far -- of the nineteen lakh people excluded, many claim to possess the necessary documents and legacy data. This has caused much bewilderment and confusion among the public. As many as 1 lakh Gorkhas, including Gorkha freedom fighter Chabilal Upadhyay's granddaughter Manju Devi, have seen their names being excluded from the NRC.

Even senior politicians such as the BJP's Himanta Biswa Sarma, have cried foul over the NRC, while AASU leader Samujjal Bhattacharya has informed that he is going to move the Supreme Court over the NRC.

Nazrul Khundigur, an ABMSU leader, has said that the NRC is full of discrepancies. "We had hoped that after the signing of the historic Assam Accord, a proper NRC would be released, but alas, our hopes have been dashed", he lamented.

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