ASSAM UNDER NRC CLOUD

Cover Story by: ABDURRAHMAN AMAN Whether National Registration of Citizens (NRC) 1951 will be updated in ssa! on the basis of "oters #ist 19$1 or earlier "oters #ists of 19%1 and 19$1 is an issue of &on&ern for !inorities in the State' (he !inority bodies urged the state )overn!ent not to update NRC 1951* but to prepare a fresh NRC on the basis of "oter #ist 19$1' +n the other hand* ll ssa! Students ,nion ( S,) is ada!ant in its de!and for updating of NRC 1951 with the &ut-off date "oters #ist 19$1' Re.e&ting outright the de!and for S, has said that the NRC 1951 should be updated on the basis of lin/age found in the "oters #ist 19$1 S, already a&&epted 1ar&h 25* 19$1 as the &ut-off date for dete&ting S, and the State preparing a fresh NRC* with NRC 1951' 0eing one of the signatories of ssa! &&ord* 0angladeshis' t !idnight of 15th ugust* 1935 the ssa! &&ord was signed in New 4elhi between run by S, against illegal foreigners'

)overn!ent in the presen&e of the Central )overn!ent representatives* bringing to an end the so-&alled ssa! 1ove!ent then &&ording to the ssa! &&ord* those who had entered ssa! before the !idnight of 1ar&h 25* 19$1 should be given 6ndian &itizenship' So the 7uestion auto!ati&ally rises* what are the reasons of their opposing preparation of a fresh NRC based on "oters #ist 19$18 (he answer is si!ple' 0eing getting the NRC updated* their ne9t !ove would be to de&lare the people in&luded in NRC 1951 and their des&endents as original people of the state and then to de!and for 1:: per &ent reservation in sse!bly and parlia!entary seats for the!' (hey would also de!and for 1:: per &ent .ob reservation for the ;original< people as they have defined' 6n this &ase* they already raised their voi&es' 1inority bodies argued that as the NRC 1951 was not prepared under any Rule in &ontrast to the present NRC whi&h is going to be prepared on the basis of Citizenship (Registration of Citizenship and issue of National 6dentity Cards) Rule 2::=* it has no valid status and now it is also not available in several distri&ts of the state' >en&e* updating of NRC 1951 &ould not be &orre&t and &o!plete' &&ording to the data provided by 0arpeta 4istri&t d!inistration* 0arpeta revenue &ir&le alone has 2= villages* out of whi&h nine villages do not find !ention in NRC 1951 and ?le&toral Roll (?R) 19%%' &&ording to the Census 1951* the na!es of % la/h 1usli!s were not in&luded in NRC 1951 as they were &o!pelled to ta/e refuge in erstwhile ?ast @a/istan due to the riots that had o&&urred in ssa!' fter the signing of the Nehru-#ia7uat gree!ent they returned and hen&e they &ould not get their na!es entered in NRC 1951' 1oreover* the na!es of !any people of the re!ote villages* espe&ially in the riverine areas* were left out as infra-stru&ture of the state was very poor at that ti!e' s per e9isting guidelines* the people who are original inhabitants of ssa! in&luding their &hildren* who are &itizens of 6ndia* will be in&luded in the updated NRC' 0ut surprisingly* the relevant ruleAguideline does not spe&ify the &riterion for deter!ination of ;+riginal inhabitants<' +n Nove!ber 22* 2:1: the )roup of 1inisters ()o1) headed by Revenue 1inister 4r' 0hu!idhar 0ar!an assured 2= !inority organisations in&luding bdul ziz fra&tion of ll ssa! 1inority Student ,nion ( 0engali Buba Chatra Cederation ( 1S,)* ll 6ndia 1illi Coun&il ( 61C)* ll ssa! 0BCC) and Citizens< Right @reservation Co!!ittee (CR@C) of preparing a &orre&t NRC

wherein the na!e of ea&h and every genuine &itizen would be in&luded' (he other !e!bers of )o1 are >ealth 1inister* 4r' >i!anta 0ishay Sar!a* Cood and Supply 1inister* 4r' Nazrul 6sla!* ?9&ise 1inister* 1r' )auta! Roy and Corest 1inister* 1r' Ra&/ibul >ussain' (o find out a !odality of preparing NRC a&&eptable for all* )o1 too/ sto&/ of the views of the representatives of this !inority bodies at 4ispur' (he !inority representatives urged the )overn!ent to re!ove the defe&ts of e9isting appli&ation for! of NRC preparation and to !a/e it si!pler' (hey also urged the )overn!ent to repeal se&tion 5- of the a!ended Citizenship &t and said that all 6ndia nor! of preparing NRC by &ondu&ting a house-to-house enu!eration should be followed and 4-voters (4oubtful voters) having valid do&u!ents of &itizenship should be in&luded in the NRC' s per rule 5- * whi&h has been a!ended only for ssa!* all the residents* !ost of who! are illiterate* would have to apply to the 4istri&t Registrar en&losing a large nu!ber of supporting do&u!ents* appear for hearing and prove their &itizenship to the satisfa&tion of the offi&ers &on&erned for in&lusion of their na!es in the updated NRC' (his pro&edure is only stipulated e9&lusively for the state of ssa! and not for any other states of 6ndia' s su&h it is e9tre!ely dis&ri!inatory' Raising 7uestion against NRC updating !odality* the senior advo&ate of )uwahati >igh Court and 6,4C Wor/ing @resident* >afiz Rashid h!ed Chowdhary* said that the all 6ndia nor! for NRC update by &ondu&ting a house-to-house

enu!eration should be followed' +n Nove!ber 2=* 2:1: Chief 1inister (arun )agoi said to the .ournalists that the !odality of house-to-house enu!eration should be adopted' >e also said the )overn!ent wants to update the NRC* but the people don<t &o!e forward with NRC for!s duly filled up' So* !any of the! will be left out* leading to !ore agitation and !ore trouble' (herefore* there is an urgent need to !a/e an arrange!ent for sending offi&ials on a door-to-door enu!eration' So!e of the intelle&tuals of the state also support this view' +pposing the idea of house-to-house distribution of NRC for!s* S, dviser Sa!u..al 0hatta&harya said* this proposal &ould not be a&&epted as there is no !e&hanis! to distinguish 0angladeshis who entered after the &ut-off date of 1ar&h 25* 19$1 fro! the ones who had entered ssa! prior to that date' 0ut there is no base of this argu!ent as the na!e of those appli&ants would only be in&luded in the new NRC who &ould furnish valid do&u!ents' 1oreover* !inority bodies de!anded repeal of Sub-se&tion = of Se&tion 5- of the Citizenship &t' (hey re.e&ted the proposal of updating NRC 1951 and de!anded to prepare the NRC on the basis of "oter #ist 19$1' 6n the !eanti!e* the )o1 issued written proposal of a&&epting 1= do&u!ents to the !inority representatives for their &onsent' (hese do&u!ents areD (1) e9tra&t of NRC* 19$1* (2) e9tra&tA&ertified &opy of ?le&toral Rolls (?R) up to the !idnight of 25th 1ar&h* 19$1* (=) land re&ords in&luding tenan&y re&ords of relevant periods (up to 25th 1ar&h* 19$1)* (5) &itizenship &ertifi&ate issued by &o!petent authority* (5) &itizenship &ertifi&ate issued fro! outside the State (whi&h all should be got verified fro! the issuing authority by the Registering authority)* (%) refugee registration &ertifi&ate issued up to 25th 1ar&h* 19$1* ($) passport issued by the )overn!ent of 6ndia* (3) 6nsuran&e poli&y (#6C6) of relevant period (up to 25th 1ar&h* 19$1)* (9) any li&en&eA&ertifi&ate issued by any )overn!ent authority of relevant period (up to 25th 1ar&h* 19$1)* (1:) do&u!ent showing servi&eAe!ploy!ent under )overn!entA@ubli& se&tor underta/ing* (11) ban/Apost offi&e a&&ounts of relevant period (,p to 25th 1ar&h* 19$1)* (12) birth &ertifi&ates issued by the &o!petent authority* and (1=) &ertifi&ate issued by the se&retary of the "illage @an&hayat &ountersigned by the lo&al Revenue +ffi&e in respe&t of fe!ales who have !igrated to other village after !arriage' >owever* this would be a supporting do&u!ent only' 1inority bodies are also de!anding to &orre&t the e9isting appli&ation for! of NRC updating' 6n the provision laid down in Colu!n No' 5 of the ppli&ation Cor!* &ertain infor!ation has been sought fro! the appli&ants' 6t is e9tre!ely diffi&ult to fulfil those re7uire!ents parti&ularly by an old wo!an who was !arried 5: or !ore years ago' 6t is al!ost i!possible to &olle&t the details sought for by an old lady fro! her parental address who !ight have died long ba&/' Si!ilar will be the dile!!a of those persons who have been displa&ed fro! their original pla&es due to flood-erosion* unavoidable &hange of residen&e* &o!!unal riots* ethni& &leansing or in sear&h of livelihood' 6n the re-printed ?le&toral Rolls of 19%% and 19$1 for upgradation of NRC 1951 a large nu!ber of ano!alies and dis&repan&ies have also erupted as in the &ase of the re-printed NRC 1951' Cor e9a!ple* so!e people who have obtained &ertified &opies of ?Rs of 19%% and19$1 fro! the &o!petent authority earlier have found their na!es !issing in the presently re-printed ?Rs of 19%% and 19$1' (o re!ove &onfusion &reated in the !inds of people due to the 7uery about details of birthpla&e* whi&h was a &lause in the e9isting NRC for!* the )o1 deleted this &lause fro! the new NRC for! drafted by the!' (he nu!ber 12 &lause of the e9isting for! is &orre&ted repla&ing ;des&endent< by ;forefather< that was wrongly inserted' 6n Colu!n No' 12 of the ppli&ation Cor!* the appli&ants are re7uired to !ention the details of their des&endants to lin/ the! with the pre-1951 re&ords whi&h are absurd' (o lin/ with pre1951 re&ords* one should really !ention the details of his prede&essor instead of des&endants' 6n the pres&ribed ppli&ation Cor! in E nubandha 2 ( )F* there is provision for only four fa!ily !e!bers (S# No' 1-5)* but for fa!ilies having !ore than 5 !e!bers* no provision has been !ade in the ppli&ation Cor!' +f &ourse* in draft NRC for!* provision for !ore than 5 fa!ily-!e!bers has been !ade' 1oreover* draft NRC for! is si!plified' 0ut in the new proposal the State )overn!ent did not give written assuran&e of door-to-door enu!eration* it is only said that govern!ent offi&ials would be deputed to assist the people' (he )overn!ent has also said nothing about preparation of NRC based on "oter #ist 19$1 and hen&e it is sure that the tas/s of NRC* 1951 updating would be &ontinued' S,* 0G@ and their ally already re.e&ted the draft NRC for!s along with new proposal' E(he draft NRC for! would only help 0angladeshis*F said Sa!u..al' (he state 0G@ president Ran.it 4atta said that e9&lusion of birthpla&e &lause was dangerous to the state and the original people' 0ut !uting their fear the state >ealth 1inister >i!anta 0ishwa said that as per ssa! &&ord* NRC would be updated by in&luding only those who were residing in the state sin&e before or on !idnight of 25th 1ar&h* 19$1* then where would lie the ne&essity of !entioning their pla&es of birth8 Rather what would be re7uired is where their parents resided on or before 25th 1ar&h* 19$1' >ere it is !entionable that the de&ision to update the NRC and to give identity &ards to 6ndian Citizens on the basis of the sa!e was ta/en in a tripartite !eeting involving the Central and State )overn!ents and prepared updating !odality dis&ussing with S, on 1ay 5* 2::5' fterward the >o!e 1inistry S, but &o!pletely ignored the opinion of the !inority &o!!unity* the !e!bers of

who! are the worst sufferers in the na!e of 0angladeshis' Now it is a /nown fa&t that the !e!bers of the !inority &o!!unity of ssa! are be&o!ing soft targets and vi&ti!s in the na!e of 0angladeshis only be&ause of their ethni& si!ilarities with people on the other side of the international border' (he )overn!ent laun&hed a pilot pro.e&t for updating the NRC in two revenue &ir&les* 0arpeta and Chaygaon early last year* but the pro&ess was &o!pelled to stop after the death of four people belonging to the 1usli! &o!!unity in an unprovo/ed poli&e firing on a protest rally against the defe&ted NRC !odality organised by +n the other hand* the 1S,' fter this the State )overn!ent &onstituted five !e!bers< )roup of 1inister under Revenue 1inister 4r' 0hu!idhar 0ar!an' S, and 25 other organisations allying with it on the issue are strongly opposing any &hange in e9isting !odality and for!at of NRC for!' +n Nove!ber 2=* 2:1: they !et )o1 and as/ed the State )overn!ent to start updating the NRC si!ultaneously in all the parts of the state' (hey also strongly opposed the proposal for house-to-house enu!eration for updating NRC' (he proposal was tabled for dis&ussion by the state )overn!ent at the !eeting of the organisation with State<s )o1' S, dviser 4r' Sa!u..al 0hatta&harya said* the NRC for! is free fro! any ano!alies and as su&h the )overn!ent should !a/e the people /now that NRC for! is free fro! any ano!aly' 0ut it is a fa&t as we had !entioned above that there are !any defe&ts in e9isting NRC for!' (he State govern!ent has also a&&epted that there is so!e &o!ple9ity in e9isting !odality and it needs to be si!pler' Still S, is ada!ant in their stand and Sa!u..al 0hatta&harya has said that the for! in its e9isting for!at is very si!ple and fault-free' >e has also said that si!plifying the for! further would serve the interests of the foreigners illegally staying in ssa!' (his fear of his is totally baseless' 6t is found that* thousands and thousands of genuine voters of the religious and linguisti& !inority &o!!unities are deprived of their &itizenship through writing E4F (4oubtful "oter) against their na!e in the "oter #ist' &&ording to the latest infor!ation* there are 1'5 la/h people on the list of E4F voters' 6n &ase of &reating 4-"oter* the ?le&tion Co!!ission did not follow any rule* but the voters &overed under E4F were rando!ly sele&ted and in this !atter the )overn!ent also &ould not give any satisfa&tory answer' (he reports of !ental and physi&al harass!ent are not rare' 6n the !eanti!e* 1S, along with other !inority bodies a&&used S, of playing politi&s in the na!e of NRC' (hey are unne&essarily &o!pli&ating the issue by standing on unrealisti& ter!s and &onditions' +n the other hand* the 0G@ is &o!!unalising the !atter by openly advo&ating offering 6ndian &itizenship to >indu 0angladeshis who have arrived even today' (hey are lobbing for treating >indu 0angladeshis as refugees whi&h is against the se&ular &hara&ter of our Constitution' 0ut unfortunately S, along with their allies did not show strong protest against 0G@<s and its >indutwadi allies< open anti- national and anti- ssa!ese stand on the foreigner issue e9&ept si!ply saying foreigners are foreigners* whether they >indus or 1usli!* they !ust have to go' ?ven the so-&alled liberal and se&ular intelle&tuals of the state have not ob.e&ted to this &o!!unal line' 1eanwhile* sa!ar @rag.otishpuria Hhilin.ia 1usli! ,nnayan @arishad (an asso&iation of the indigenous 1usli!s of ssa! who are the des&endents of inhabitants of an&ient @rag.otishpur State whi&h was in e9isten&e fro! Holiabar of ssa! to 1ai!ansing 4istri&t of 0angladesh) &lai!ed the!selves to be the sons of the soil' (he president of the @arishad* 1r' ?saha/ 4ewan has said that the so-&alled i!!igrant 1usli!s of ssa! are a&tually the sons of this soil' (hey inhabited the valley of 0rah!aputra fro! !ore than 5 thousand years ago' 1oreover* they are residing in ssa! fro! pre-independen&e' (oday the planner is &onspiring against the! to deprive the! of their politi&al rights and to !a/e the! landless &itizens' >e has also warned to ta/e the issue to the international foru! if the govern!ent ignores the!'