New Delhi:
Even as various stakeholders debate over the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which was released by the Home Ministry on August 31st, Himanta Biswa Sarma has reportedly said that the BJP-led Assam government is set to move the Supreme Court for review of the key procedures of the entire exercise. The final NRC list released on Saturday at 10 am had excluded over 19 lakh individuals. Around 3 crore people found their names in the list. The state government feels that several ‘deserving’ people were left out of the final list, an HT report said on Tuesday.
“Nothing is final in this NRC till the Supreme Court accepts the NRC or till the court gives its seal of approval. The government will definitely put its views on the floor of the court. Our plea was for 20% reverification in border districts and 10% in the rest. We have to press it again,” Assam’s Finance Minister was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
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According to the HT report, Sarma feels that the NRC officials didn’t accept the refugee certificates issued to the Hindu Bengalis, who came to Assam during the violence in the then East Pakistan in 1970s. This led to their exclusion from the final NRC list, Sarma was quoted as saying. It should be noted that till now, the NRC panel has not released the final data according to religion.
The ruling BJP is not the only party that has expressed dissatisfaction over the final NRC list. Even opposition Congress and the All Assam Students Union have also said that they are not okay with the final citizenship roll.
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The updated final NRC, which validates bonafide Indian citizens of Assam, was out on Saturday, with over 19 lakh applicants who failed to make it to the list staring at an uncertain future. A total of 3,30,27,661 people had applied to be included in the NRC. Of them, 3,11,21,004 have been included in the document and 19,06,657 excluded, a statement from the NRC State Coordinator's office had said.
Those who have been excluded from the National Register of Citizens have 120 days to appeal against it at Foreigners Tribunals. The Assam government has already ruled out detention of people who do not figure in the list "in any circumstances" till the time Foreigners Tribunals declare them foreigners. The final list was published at 10 am and the hard copies of the Supplementary List of Inclusions are available for public viewing at the NRC Seva Kendras (NSK), offices of the deputy commissioner and offices of the Circle Officer during office hours, a statement by the NRC authority said.
