With only one day left in between for publication of the crucial National Register of Citizens, it is a matter of grave concern that certain quarters are trying to spread rumours that a large number of people whose names will not appear in it will be rendered stateless and stand a chance of being pushed out to Bangladesh. While it is a fact that the NRC is a legally valid exercise which is being prepared after the government had duly obtained a broad consensus among the various political parties, organisations representing various ethnic groups and other communities, and other people, with a final stamp from the Supreme Court of India. The NRC in fact is prepared by the Registrar General of India under the direct supervision and monitoring of the Supreme Court. The Government of Assam has been repeatedly and very stating through newspapers and other media that non-inclusion of a person’s name in the NRC does not by itself amount to him or her being declared as a foreigner. The Government has already made clear provisions that those people whose names do not find place in the final NRC can approach any of the 300-plus Foreigners Tribunals that have been set up across the state, and that a person would get as many as 120 days for making an appeal there. Over and above these, the Government of Assam has also promised providing necessary arrangements to make available legal aid through the District Legal Services Authorities to the needy people amongst those who are excluded from the final NRC. Most importantly, there is no provision whatsoever anywhere that a person whose name does not appear in the final NRC will be whisked away by the police and pushed into a detention camp. The NRC State Coordinator on the other hand has also issued advertisements giving details of the provisions of appeal, which are also available in the NRC website.
What however is happening is that a section of political parties and leaders who had earlier agreed to be part of a consensus that the NRC was the best available mechanism to identify illegal migrants, is now trying to backtrack for narrow political interests. It is unfortunate that the BJP, which is the main partner of the ruling alliance in Assam, itself has announced its distrust in the NRC. This has happened despite the fact that Sarbananda Sonowal had come to power and become chief minister of Assam on the basis of getting the majority people’s support for the promise of protecting the jaati, maati and bheti of the indigenous people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all top BJP leaders who had come to campaign for Sonowal too had recited that same jaati-maati-bheti slogan countless times in order to get votes. Similarly, a section of intellectuals, editors and journalists sitting in the national capital are trying to paint a picture that the people of Assam are preparing to throw the Muslims out of the state, little understanding that the Assamese society comprises of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and several other religious faiths. It is a matter of shame for such intellectuals, journalists and editors that they do not have any idea about the history of the North-eastern region of the country, about how Assam was sought to be made a part of East Pakistan, and how Gopinath Bardoloi, Bishnuram Medhi, Bhimbor Deuri and others had obtained the blessings of Gandhiji and Patel to keep Assam in independent India. It is also a matter of shame that a section of the media outside the region have chosen to only give one side of the story, least bothering to find out the basic issues of Assam. What is worst is that a couple of local intellectuals have also joined the campaign against the people of Assam in the context of the NRC, least bothering to find out that they are playing the role of Bibhishan, if not Badan Barphukan.