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Journalism of Courage
With Assam’s final National Register of Citizens (NRC) excluding over 19 lakh people, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi on Friday said the list published today is not “error-free” and argued that “lakhs of genuine Indian citizens” have not made the cut, while many foreigners have been included.
He called for a review of all 19 lakh names and asked the NRC authorities to explain what went wrong.
Gogoi also questioned the sincerity of the Central as well as the state government – both led by the BJP – in bringing out a genuine NRC. He maintained that he started doubting the government’s intentions the day the Citizenship Amendment Bill was announced.
He told The Sunday Express: “I had a doubt that the NRC was going to be a waste. It is a futile exercise since you have been talking about the Citizenship Amendment Bill.. (NRC is) a waste of money, time and energy. What is the point of preparing or completing the NRC.that is why they have not taken it very seriously. They have done it intentionally so that it is not error-free, and it cannot be a valuable document.”
READ | Here’s how to check if your name is on Assam’s NRC
The CPI(M) said exclusion of over 19 lakh people from the list has roused legitimate fears that a large number of Indian citizens have been excluded, and demanded convening an all-party meeting in Assam to discuss it.“It is important now to ensure that all Indian citizens who have not found a place in the list are included…. The government should spell out what will be the status and rights of those who have been excluded. Till their appeals are heard, and the process is completed, the status quo should be maintained with regard to their existing rights and facilities,” the CPI(M) said in a statement.
Gogoi said: “I am not happy since it is not error-free; it contains a large number of names, lakhs of names. of Indian citizens.. They should not have been left out. While lakhs of genuine Indian citizens have been left out, several foreigners have been included. The NRC authority should explain.”
Stating that this means the NRC authorities did not do their job efficiently, Gogoi said, “They have not scrutinised all papers, they have not taken all precautions, not made the investigation foolproof.”
Read | In family of 52, four out of draft NRC, 45 out now
The Assam Congress, he maintained, is “in a way” happy that the issue of foreigners, which dominated the state’s political discourse over decades, will now fizzle out. “Sabke dukaan bandh hone wala hain (everyone who profited by raising the foreigner issue will be out of business). This is an issue on which politics of Assam has survived for last 30 years. The draft (NRC) list had 40 lakh names; now it is down to 19 lakh. There are lakhs of genuine Indians even in this list. So ultimately the list will come down to 10 lakh.”
Without naming the BJP, he pointed out that “they” used to say one-third of the state’s population are foreigners and wondered, “If a state with a population of 3.5 crore has 10 lakh foreigners, what will remain in the politics of foreigners in Assam?”
Calling it a “conspiracy”, he said, “The Government of India has not taken it seriously, neither has the state government or the CM, because they are talking of Citizenship Amendment Bill. Here (for NRC) the cut-off is March 25, 1971, and there the cut-off date is December 31, 2014. It is contradictory. They are just hoodwinking the people.”
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Gogoi said that the government has created uncertainty for the 19 lakh people left out. “They don’t know where they stand today… My suggestion is that you must do justice; if necessary you review it…,” he said.
