GUWAHATI: The Coordination Committee Against Citizenship Amendment Act, Assam has petitioned the Registrar General of India (RGI), demanding the publication of the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
In a letter, the committee said the final draft was submitted to the RGI on August 31, 2019 after the NRC of 1951 was updated under the order and monitoring of the Supreme Court.
“…But unfortunately, the draft was not published and rejection slips were not issued (to those who were excluded) reportedly because of objections filed in the Supreme Court by certain organizations, including the state government praying for reverification in certain areas, which were rejected by the SC,” the letter read.
Stating that there is no reason to keep the updated NRC in cold storage, the committee requested the RGI to publish it without further delay.
“We assure you that it will be hailed by all sections of population except those politically driven to oppose it,” the committee further wrote to the RGI.
In another letter written to the Chief Justice of India, the committee expressed gratitude on behalf of the people of Assam for the Supreme Court’s recent judgement upholding Clause 6(A) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, “thereby settling the issue conclusively”.
Stating that the court settled the just demands of Assam’s indigenous people, the committee said it would go a long way in resolving long-standing public squabbles which disturbed peace and tranquility. The committee, however, lamented that although the NRC’s final draft had been submitted to the RGI, no effective steps was taken to implement it.
By upholding Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the Supreme Court validated the 1971 cut-off date for granting Indian citizenship to immigrants. The 1971 cut-off date is linked to the Assam Accord of 1985, signed between the Rajiv Gandhi government and the All Assam Students’ Union at the end of the six-year-long bloody Assam Agitation. The Accord says the illegal immigrants, irrespective of their religion who entered Assam after March 25, 1971, are to be detected and deported.
It took nearly six years to complete the NRC updation process that entailed an expenditure of Rs 1,600 crore. Over 19.06 lakh of the 3.3 crore applicants had missed the NRC bus. A process where they can challenge their exclusion in the foreigners’ tribunals is yet to start.