Ex-President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed's family members excluded from Assam NRC list

Ziauddin, the nephew of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, said his name doesn't even feature in the legacy data, which is a combination of the 1951 NRC and electoral rolls of Assam from 1951 till March 24, 1971.

Ziauddin Ahmed is the son of late Ikramuddin Ali Ahmed, brother of former president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

NEW DELHI: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of India. He entered into the world of politics through Assam. His father Col. Zalnur Ali Ahmed and grandfather Khaliluddin Ali Ahmed both hailed from a well-known indigenous Assamese family. He was elected to the Assam Assembly for the first time in 1935 and then in 1957 and 1962. When India won its freedom from the British, Fakhruddin was the Advocate General of Assam. When the Congress nominated him for the Presidential post in 1974, Fakhruddin was a member of the Lok Sabha from Assam's Barpeta constituency. He died in office on February 11, 1977. Now, when the National Register of Citizen (NRC), touted to be the identity document of Assamese, was published on Monday in Assam, the names of the family members of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed's nephew didn't feature in the list. Fakhruddin had four brothers and five sisters. One of his brothers, Ikramuddin Ali Ahmed, also lived in Assam. But the names of the family members of Ikramuddin's son Ziauddin Ahmed were missing from the NRC draft. Ziauddin, the nephew of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, said his name doesn't even feature in the legacy data, which is a combination of the 1951 NRC and electoral rolls of Assam from 1951 till March 24, 1971. "I have a voter ID card and voted several times in elections but still my name is not there in the final NRC draft," Ziauddin said, adding that he will apply to get his name registered in the NRC. A resident of Kalamoni Barhampur near Rangia in Kamrup district, 55-year-old Ziauddin is married to Aqima Begum and the couple has two sons- Sajid Ali Ahmed and Wajid Ali Ahmed, both were born in Assam. "We are worried about it. I don't know why our names were not included in the NRC list. My grandfather came here (in Assam) long ago but even the legacy data doesn't have our names," Sajid said. The complete draft NRC has 2.9 crore names out of the 3.29 crore applications. The names of 40.07 lakh applicants, however, did not find a place in the document. BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday said the NRC in its initial inquiry has found that 40 lakh people living in Assam are not Indian citizens but people can file their objections and verifications will be done as per the process laid down by the apex court. Shah, however, said it was not the final draft and those who have been left out can approach the authorities and file their objection. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to make millions of people "stateless" in Assam for political gains.