Assam Government should accept updated NRC, says Congress MLA

GUWAHATI: At a time when the Assam Government and various organizations of the state have refused to accept the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) by claiming that a large number of illegal foreigners' names have been included in the list, Assam Congress MLA Abdur Rashid Mandal has demanded that the Government should "accept" the updated NRC and "declare it as valid".

The NRC list was published on August 31, 2019, with the inclusion of names of 3.11 crore people and exclusion of over 19 lakh applicants.

Rashid Mandal told ANI, "The BJP is talking about the illegal foreigners' named included in the NRC, but what are they doing? The NRC was completed. Who is in power? They are in power at the State and Centre. If illegal foreigners' names are included in the NRC, then the Government should punish all the officers who were engaged in the NRC process. We have spent lots of money on preparing this NRC. They are trying to mislead the people of Assam to do politics in the name of NRC, foreigners", Rashid Mandal said.

"The 19 lakh people who are left out of the NRC should be given a chance to go to court to prove their citizenship. The Government should provide rejection slips to such people. But why have they not issued any rejection slips to these 19 lakh people? The updated NRC should be declared valid by the government of Assam", Mandal added.

The Congress MLA also said that "if any misappropriation of funds happened", then the BJP-led Government is responsible because the BJP has been in power at the Centre since 2014 and in Assam since 2016.

"The NRC State Coordinator was under the control of the State Government. If there is any misappropriation, then the Government is responsible. The NRC process was monitored under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Amit Shah told the Parliament that they have published the NRC, which means they have accepted the NRC. But the Assam Government is saying that they have not accepted it. There are differences between the Centre and the State", Mandal added.

Mandal added that the Government is talking about the protection of the rights of the Assamese people for which Clause 6 of the Assam Accord is to be implemented and, accordingly, the Government of India formed the High Powered Committee led by B K Sharma as per the recommendation of the State Government. "The report of the High Powered Committee for implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord was received by the Assam Government, but it is not submitted it to the Government of India till now", Mandal added.

The Congress MLA accused BJP leaders of "engaging in politics" over the issue of NRC.

"Why was the delimitation process initiated if the NRC process was not completed?" questioned Mandal.

The BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and All Assam Students' Union (AASU) raised the demand that the delimitation can't take place so long as the NRC is not completed, Mandal added.

He expressed the hope that the State Government will perform its duty as per the Constitution and Rules.

"If they will break the Rules, then we will go to the court, we will go to the public", Mandal said.

Mandal claimed that former NRC State Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma's appointment was challenged in court. (ANI)

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