Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday asked people not to panic and said the state government will take all possible steps to help genuine Indians prove their citizenship and provide legal assistance to the poor. Sonowal also said exclusion of anyone’s name from the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be published on Saturday, does not mean that he or she has become a foreigner as such a decision can be taken only by a Foreigners Tribunal (FTs) after following proper legal process.
When the draft NRC was published on July 30 last year, there was a huge controversy over the exclusion of 40.7 lakh people from it. The draft included names of 2.9 crore people out of 3.29 crore applicants. In addition to those excluded, the names of over a lakh people were also left out in a list published last month. The chief minister said one must know that only a foreigners tribunal can declare an individual foreigner after following proper legal procedure.
“Exclusion from the NRC does not mean a person automatically becoming a foreigner. Only an FT has the right to declare a person foreigner, no one else. Even if someone is declared a foreigner, that person can challenge the FT order in the high court, and if not satisfied, then the Supreme Court,” he said.
On August 19, Sonowal had indicated that the government may explore legislative options to deal with the wrongful inclusion or exclusion of some names in the NRC after its final publication.
Last month, the Supreme Court had rejected the central and Assam governments’ plea for sample re-verification to find out wrongful inclusions or exclusion of names in the NRC. The Supreme Court-monitored NRC exercise, aimed at identifying illegal immigrants, mostly from Bangladesh, was carried out only in Assam, which faced influx of people from the neighbouring country since the early 20th century.
When the NRC was first prepared in Assam in 1951, the state had 80 lakh citizens. According to the 2011 census, Assam’s population is over 3.11 crore.
The process of identification of illegal immigrants in Assam has been widely debated and has become a contentious issue in state politics. A six-year-long agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants was launched by the All Assam Students Union in 1979. It had culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985 in the presence of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
(PTI Inputs)