Bongaigaon, October 16, 2020: Bharatio Nagarik Adhikar Suraksha Manch (BNASM) that translates into Forum for Protection of Indian Citizenship Rights, an Assam based civil rights group has slammed the government of Assam and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for rejecting the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
It is noteworthy that the Chief Minister had recently criticised the NRC publicly at a meeting in upper-Assam, and the state government is planning to approach the Supreme Court again on the matter of reverification.
At a press conference in Bongaigaon, BNASM president Zamser Ali said, “The NRC was made under the supervision of the Supreme Court. There were multiple checks and balances in place at different stages to ensure its accuracy. So now, if anyone says that it is not acceptable because it doesn’t serve their political agenda, that is unfair to the people of Assam.” BNASM disagrees with the state government’s claim that the NRC is erroneous. Ali said, “If that is the case, then the 55,000 employees of the state government should be sacked and the Chief Minister should resign taking responsibility for this erroneous NRC.”
BNASM feels that the BJP government is just trying to destabilise and divide the state using the NRC. Other attendees at the press conference included Working President Bisheswar Maitri, General Secretary Nanda Ghosh as well as Human Rights activist and prominent advocate Abhijit Chowdhury. Previously when Assam Public Works, an NGO at the forefront of the NRC case in the Supreme Court had moved an application for reverification, the SC had rejected it.
Ali raised concerns about names being excluded from the NRC despite people having all the documents. In some cases even if the names of parents were included, the names of their children were omitted. Moreover, even those people who had been found to be Indian citizens after a hearing before a Foreigners’ Tribunal, found their names excluded from the NRC.
Ali also raised the matter of Aadhaar cards saying, “People had given their biometric data for issuance of Aadhaar cards during the revision of NRC. But they have neither been given an Aadhaar card, nor are they being allowed to enrol for it again. As a result, all these Assamese people have been deprived of government schemes related to employment, pension, housing etc.”
Nanda Ghosh, General Secretary of Forum for Protection of Indian Citizenship Rights, said, “The Chief Minister has made irresponsible remarks regarding the NRC.” He accused the BJP government and its leaders of making comments just to create confusion at various times in Assam. He said, “1.9 million people had been left out of the NRC under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court. Out of this, more than 1.2 million people were Hindus.” Nanda Ghosh alleges that the BJP is talking about Hindus, but has not made any comments in the case of NRC. “The government wants to politicise this issue. It is only doing Hindu-Muslim politics without working for the Assamese people,” said Ghosh.
Ghosh also wondered if the government would pay compensation for the loss of life or livelihood due to NRC. He gave an example of a family of a freedom fighter, who were declared foreigner despite making it to the NRC. Another person died by suicide after being declared foreigner in Sorbhog. Ghosh also highlighted how impoverished people like peasants and daily wage earners were being harassed and forced to organise large sums of money to fight their case.
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