Gogoi blames Centre for influx

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, July 17: Admitting that infiltration from Bangladesh has not stopped, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today blamed the Central government for failing to stop it.

 “Some amount of infiltration is still there. It is the Government of India which should stop it,” he said at a press conference here.

 “The border is guarded by the BSF…the Central government is responsible for ensuring that infiltrators do not enter. They are at the front line,” he added.

The Chief Minister asserted that the State government’s responsibility is to detect infiltrators and not stop infiltration. “The State government comes in the second line in this respect. They (Central government) have to stop infiltration and we have to identify illegal migrants once they are inside the State,” Gogoi said.

The CM maintained that an updated tiol Register of Citizens (NRC) would be vital for ensuring that foreigners cannot establish themselves as genuine citizens.

 “People in the State have become aware of the need to get their mes enlisted in the NRC and it is a good sign,” he said.

Admitting that several problems have cropped up for the people in the NRC update exercise, Gogoi said the State government has already filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court for accepting post -1985 electoral rolls (ER) as supporting documents for entering one’s me in the updated NRC.

 “The 1985 electoral rolls were prepared with 1971 rolls as the base, which is the base-date for updating the NRC. Hence, we are urging for allowing post-1985 electoral rolls as a supporting document,” he said.

The CM said the State government will now file an interim application before the Supreme Court for automatic inclusion of indigenous people, with the State government suggesting that those whose ancestors had settled in Assam more that 100 years back be accepted as indigenous people.