Assam’s embattled NRC takes another hit as Himanta Sarma discounts it in ‘pushback’ drive

Sarma has been clear in his opposition to the NRC, which was compiled after much delay in 2019, claiming that its exclusion of “only” 19 lakh people was erroneous and demanding a re-assessment.

As part of the Assam government crackdown, at least 300 people declared foreigners by the state’s Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs) have been pushed into Bangladesh, and many more detained. The Opposition as well as minority interest groups have been demanding that the Assam government should focus instead on finalising the NRC, and initiating due process for those ultimately left out of it.

Speaking at a special session of the Assam Assembly recently, Congress MLA and Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia pointed out that in the absence of any decision on the NRC, the fate of the 19 lakh excluded remains in limbo even as the ongoing detentions and pushbacks are causing Indian citizens to be “persecuted” as well.

“We want that the NRC rejection slips be given to the people excluded so that the appeals process can take place, a final decision be taken by the tribunals or appellate authorities, and that those who are foreigners are identified through this legal process,” Saikia said.

Sarma, who soon after taking charge as CM in 2021 had called for reverification of 20% of the names in the NRC list in districts bordering Bangladesh and 10% in the rest of the districts to determine if there were any anomalies, reiterated this in his address to the Assembly.

“We have told the Supreme Court and spoken to the Central government that we want reverification of the NRC… We want a sample reverification and if we do not get any errors in the sample checking, we will go ahead with the existing NRC,” the CM said.

Going on to assert that his government would not consider inclusion in the NRC as a factor in its pushback drive, Sarma referred to a May 19, 2025, Supreme Court ruling. It was on the petition of one Rafiqul Hoque, who had challenged a 2017 FT order declaring him a foreigner, which was upheld by the Gauhati High Court.

One of Hoque’s contentions was that his name was in the draft NRC in 2018, and hence, earlier orders holding him a foreigner did not stand. The Supreme Court held that “the inclusion of the name of the appellant in the draft NRC would have no bearing on the order passed by the Tribunal, affirmed by the High Court, declaring the appellant a foreigner”.

Sarma said that this order made it clear that there was no connection between the NRC and detection of foreigners. “That means FTs will go down their own lane, the NRC will be in its own lane. Even after a name is in the NRC, the state government can continue its detection of foreigners. Just because a circle officer included someone in the NRC, the state government’s hands do not get tied,” the CM said.

Those who have been seeking a closure on Assam’s fraught foreigners’ issue see Sarma’s statement, as well as his invocation of a 1950 law to ease deportation, as evidence that the BJP leader wants to keep the emotive issue alive.

“Whenever some issue is resolved, or it moves forward, there are attempts to keep it alive. One is the foreigners’ issue,” said Congress MP Rakibul Hussain, linking the retriggering of the matter to next year’s Assembly elections.

“After the whole process of the NRC was done, the Centre announced that those left out were not to be detained under any circumstances till they had exhausted all the remedies available under the law (to prove their status). Such persons were to continue enjoying all the rights of a citizen… What the Chief Minister is now saying is in conflict with the Centre. The Union Home Ministry had said even those not included in the NRC will continue to have legal rights, but the CM is saying that the NRC will not be implemented here,” Hussain said.

AAMSU (All Assam Minorities Students’ Union) president Rejaul Karim Sarkar said the CM had no authority to take decisions on the NRC. “The NRC had been conducted by the Central government under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and citizenship is a Central government issue. This is not a matter on which the CM can take decisions himself. Sarma is saying these things to seek to incite the people of Assam,” Sarkar said.