Government has failed on NRC: Former CM Tarun Gogoi
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has said that if the CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill) gets passed in the Parliament, the updated NRC will be redundant; and if the NRC is updated afresh by taking 1951 as the cut-off year, the Assam Accord will be negated.
Addressing a press conference at his official residence here on Friday, Gogoi reacted sharply to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement of carrying out NRCs in all States of the country. “Shah has also dropped a hint to reject the updated NRC in Assam,” Gogoi said, and added, “The BJP government rakes up such issues only to divert attention of the people from the party’s failure to fulfill its pre-poll promises. It’s the same NRC which Amit Shah was proud of. He even went on record saying that around 40 lakh infiltrators detected by the NRC (draft) in Assam would be deported.”
On the State government’s role on NRC update, Gogoi said, “The updated NRC in Assam has shown Indians as foreigners. Who’s responsible for this? Passing the buck on former State NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela won’t be accepted. The State government should have played its role properly to ensure a correct NRC. Dispur has utterly failed in performing its job. The NRC has been updated at the notification of the Central Government, not at the directive of the Supreme Court of India. If the government rejects the updated NRC, it has to let the people of the State know the reason for its rejection of the
citizens’ register.”
Speaking on the CAB vis-à-vis the NRC, Gogoi said, “If the CAB is passed, the NRC will become redundant. And if the NRC is updated afresh by taking 1951 as the cut-off year, the Assam Accord will become discarded papers. This will start fresh bouts of agitation in the State.”
Targeting the AGP leaders, Gogoi said, “The AGP has been maintaining double standards on the CAB just for power. Former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has all along been opposing the CAB, and I support his stand on the issue.”