Without National Register of Citizens document, no entry in Meghalaya: United Democratic Students Front

Special Correspondent

Silchar, July 31: The United Democratic Students' Front (UDSF), Cachar district unit, in a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police of Cachar has alleged that just in the wake of the publication of the draft on July 30, a sort of restriction seems to have been imposed on the movement of people from the plains of Barak Valley and other places through Meghalaya. According to Abdul Alim Choudhury, general secretary, UDSF, Cachar district committee, said that the common people who include daily wage labourers, truck and lorry drivers as well as belonging to other professions are facing obstructions at Ratacherra put up by Khasi Students' Union (KSU) in their movement by all sorts of vehicles.

The vehicles or the modes of transport are being detained at the place specified and the target travelers inside are subjected to various kinds of questioning about their citizenship. Not only are the vehicles detained, but the passengers are asked to show their NRC documents in a most undemocratic and unethical manner. This phenomenon has been evident from today which has taken the people of Barak Valley by surprise and a sense of insecurity has gripped them. The passengers are bona fide Indian citizens and have to move on diverse professional purposes to Shillong and Guwahati.

Abdul Alim Choudhury pointed out as most of the passengers under target have little or no education, they can hardly be expected to reply to their queries. It is a very unexpected situation and needs to be tackled by the district administration of Cachar in coordination with the Meghalaya government. The general secretary UDSF says that the final NRC draft is yet to be published and the question of producing or showing citizenship card does not arise. In a democratic country like India, citizens have the right to live and move from one part of the country to the other part. This is the fundamental and constitutional right guaranteed to every Indian citizen.

Against this kind of attitude and behaviour of the KSU, UDSF lodges strong protest with Cachar administration and at the same time condemns in unequivocal terms the activities of the Union to detain passengers and subject them to harassment by demanding citizenship certificate. The UDSF while approaching the district administration of Cachar expects that from Wednesday, the KSU will be restrained from exercising its own whimsical and arbitrary imposition of its dictates on simple and innocent passengers.