Border police to update NRC authorities regularly

Bid to prevent Bangladeshis from making it to NRC

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, April 27: Dispur, Border Police and NRC authorities are going to work in more tandem than ever before so as to prevent names of foreigners from making it to the updated NRC.  

Such a necessity is felt now with the detection of one Ali Ahmed, who was declared a foreigner by the Gauhati High Court, making it to the first part NRC draft. Expressing serious concern over the matter, the high court did ask Dispur to create a common data base of declared illegal foreigners and their family members, doubtful voters and make the data base available in public domain. Such a common data base, the high court feels, will help various agencies, including the NRC authority, in preventing enrollment of names of illegal foreigners in the updated NRC and other official documents.

Dispur has taken a decision that the border police should keep the NRC authorities updated on the latest status of declared foreigners in the State.

When an FT or the Gauhati High Court declares a person as a foreigner it sends the name of the person and his/her whereabouts to the border police, and hence the onus of feeding NRC authorities with the latest status of declared foreigners lies with the Border Police.

Based on the list of declared foreigners given by the Border Police NRC authorities have detected 4,288 declared foreigners seeking enrollment in the NRC. All the 4,288 applications have been rejected.

Talking to The Sentinel on Friday, State NRC coordinator Prateek Hazela said: “We’re very cautious on this matter. Even people whose cases regarding their nationalities are pending in any of the FTs or in the High Court will be kept in abeyance. Their names will figure in the NRC only if they are declared as Indians, not as foreigners. Even the names of ‘doubtful’ voters will also be kept in abeyance. Such voters will make it to the updated NRC as and when they are cleared of the tag ‘D’.”    

In accordance with the decision taken in this regard, it is the Border Police that should keep NRC authorities feeding with latest status of declared foreigners.