From Bhupen Goswami
GUWAHATI : Assam’s new Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has made it clear that his government will move ahead with its promise made during the assembly elections on the NRC issue. Biswa Sarma has said that the government wants re-verification of 20 per cent names in border districts of Assam and 10 per cent in other areas. The NRC is affecting about 19 lakh people in the state, including about 5.5 lakh Hindus. With the formation of a new government in Assam, the nrc issue is once again heating up. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, when asked about the National Citizen Registration (NRC), has clarified that his government wants re-verification of 20 per cent names in border districts of Assam and 10 per cent names in other areas.
He said that if negligible mistakes are found, we can take further action with the existing NRC.But, if there are widespread anomalies, they feel that the court will take cognizance and work ahead with a new approach. It may be recalled that while issuing the resolution paper during the assembly elections, BJP President JP Nadda had also said that the BJP will work to bring the right NRC when it comes back to power. The BJP had said it was committed to protecting Indian nationals and tracking down infiltrators. It may be recalled that the nrc list was released on 31st August, 2019 in which about 19 lakh people were affected. Since then it has been embroiled in controversies and some people have approached the Supreme Court. However, the final list of NRC has not yet been released. The NRC issue was raised in the Assam assembly elections but there was not much discussion about the CAA. Now, both these issues may come before the new Chief Minister. Though the BJP government will try to bring the NRC properly, it hardly says anything on the CAA.
A prominent party leader has said that the government has now been formed and the biggest challenge before it is to deal with Covid-19. Then, there are a lot of issues which will be taken up on priority, but the citizens of Assam will be concerned at all costs. The government will also take strict cognizance of the issue of infiltrators. Meanwhile, Assam State NRC Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking comprehensive re-examination of the draft NRC as well as its supplementary list. NRC coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma in his petition said that the final draft of nrc as well as “major irregularities” were detected in the supplementary list. The state NRC coordinator sought re-verification under the supervision of a monitoring committee under the supervision of the concerned district judge, district collector and superintendent of police. Hitesh Dev Sharma in his petition had claimed that ineligible names were included in the draft NRC while many eligible names have been excluded from the list. Sarma said in a petition before the apex court that since the preparation of a right and error free NRC was an integral part of national security. In particular, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said that the state government would demand re-verification of NRC.