A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: The Hindu Yuba Chatra Parishad, Asom (HYCPA) has hailed the State Government's 'goodwill' to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam by fixing 1951 as base year.
In a press release, HYCPA central committee president Bolen Baishya and general secretary Nadhab Das said, "We have welcomed the goodwill showed by Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma in the last Assam Legislative Assembly session with regard to updating the NRC by fixing 1951 as base year. We call upon the State Government to execute this move into action at the earliest."
The press release further stated, "The base year for the identification of the illegal migrants in other States of the nation, excluding Assam, is 1951. The NRC which was already updated by fixing 1971 as the base year as a result of the Assam Accord, can never be acceptable for the State. We have been demanding the government to update the NRC with 1951 as base year by cancelling the Assam Accord which has already accepted the excessive burden of illegal migrants for 20 years."
In the same press release, Bolen Baishya and Madhab Das said that the statement made by Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Debabrat Saikia and former Congress minister Rokibul Hussain that 'the base year for Assam NRC should be 1971', quoting the Assam Accord, was condemnable.
"The base year for the identification of the illegal migrants in other States of the same nation is 1951. Significantly, no movement took place in those States for the expulsion of the illegal foreigners and no one had to embrace martyrdom for the same. But in Assam, the base year for the identification of the illegal migrants is 1971 despite the historic six-year long Assam Movement and the supreme sacrifice made by 855 martyrs. This is the outcome of the soft corner for illegal foreigners by some leaders and the inefficiency of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) leaders who signed in the Assam Accord," Bolen Baishya and Madhab Das asserted in the same press release.