By Our Correspondent
Guwahati, June 23,
Contrary to common understanding that the process of updating National Register of Citizen (NRC) in Assam is welcomed by everyone, a forum of various indigenous and tribal communities has
come out with resentments against the process.
Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha (ASM), in a press meet organized recently in the city, reiterated its old demand that the final NRC draft ‘should contain only the names of indigenous people of Assam’. The forum expressed apprehensions that as the NRC updation has been done with the basis of 1971 only, there might be a huge population of migrants, who enter the State after 1951 (and prior to ’71), gets enrolled in the list of citizens.
“As the NRC has been updated on the basis of 1971 (as its the cutoff year), we fear that nearly 70 lakh outsiders living in Assam might become recognized citizens of the country. It may finally lead to a difficult situation for the indigenous communities of Assam,” commented Matiur Rahman, working president of ASM.
The ASM earlier drew the attention of Chief Justice of India urging his intervention to temporarily halt the ongoing NRC updation process, under guidance and monitoring of the apex court, till an
ASM petition challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6 (A) clause of the Citizenship Act is resolved.
The forum pointed out that Citizenship Act’s clause Section 6 (A), meant for amendment following the signing of Assam Accord in 1985 was unconstitutional. The amendment enabled all migrants (read from Bangladesh), who entered Assam till the midnight of 24 March 1971 (in contrast to national cut-off date of 19 July 1948, for achieving Indian citizenship, it alleged.