‘Centre had tried to stall NRC’ Didi identifying land to house those not in Assam NRC: Gurung
CONGRESS CHARGE Party alleges attorney general had used fear of violence to delay implementation in 2017, was reprimanded by SC
NEW DELHI : The Congress on Sunday alleged that the Narendra Modi government had itself tried to stall the process of updating the Assam’s National Register of Citizens by appealing to the Supreme Court that such a move could lead to law and order issues.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the Attorney General of India had used the fear of violence to delay the implementation of the NRC in the Supreme Court in 2017, for which the court had reprimanded him.
“The Shah of lies and the Shahenshah of Jumlas tried their best to stall the NRC. I will tell you how they hatched a conspiracy to stop, delay and disrupt the NRC (update) process,” said Khera.
This statement from the Congress came a day after the party staked ownership of the NRC exercise by calling it “a baby of the Congress party,” born as a consequence of the Assam Accord signed by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985.
Accusing BJP president Amit Shah of speaking lies in Parliament about the government’s show of courage in implementing the NRC, Khera said the date — November 30, 2017 — will be remembered in history for it was “on this day that the Supreme Court of India came down heavily on the Modi government for its excuses to delay the NRC”.
The court, Khera said, had additionally criticised the government over the AG’S statement that part publication of the draft could result in a law and order situation as a large segment of people would understand that their name have been excluded.
“We do not see how the aforesaid situation can even remotely arise as we have already indicated in the earlier part of the present order that claims of 47 lakh people (regarding whom the doubt pertained to parental linkage) and 29 lakh people (married women who had submitted Gram Panchayat Secretary Certificates) are still pending and would be subject to verification and covered by publication of another draft at a subsequent point of time,” Khera said quoting the SC.
He said it was shocking that the Centre’s highest legal officer made this submission in the SC.
“We demand that the Modi government apologise to the people of Assam. We also demand to know what is the stand of this government, which on the one hand seeks to give citizenship rights through the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill to all those who migrated to India before 31 December, 2014 and on the other hand is playing politics with NRC,” Khera said, demanding the resignation of chief minister Sarbanand Sonowal who, he said, “had no right to be the CM”. SILIGURI: Fugitive Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Bimal Gurung has accused West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of “secretly identifying” land in Darjeeling to accommodate people excluded from the final draft list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
“Settling illegal Bangladeshis, who have been excluded from NRC in Assam, creates a national security threat,” warned Gurung, a former Gorkhaland Territorial Administration chief executive, in a statement issued from his hideout late Saturday.
Anit Thapa, a leader of rival Binoy Tamang-led GJM faction and GTA vice-chairman, accused Gurung of misleading the people.
He said Gurung been hiding away for over a year just to save his life.
“He has left people to suffer. More importantly, after himself being involved in subversive activities, he has no right to talk about national security. He is trying to mislead people in the hills.”
TMC’S Darjeeling president and Mirik municipality chairman LB Rai dismissed Gurung’s allegations. “He is unnecessarily trying to make things murkier.”
The Tamang faction has echoed chief minister Banerjee’s allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-led Centre was trying to create turmoil through the NRC. According to it, nearly one lakh Gorkhas have been excluded from the draft.
Gurung has been on the run since being booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for violence during the last round of agitation for statehood that rocked Darjeeling in June last year. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha split following a threemonth-long bandh.
The Tamang faction took control of the party’s larger section and is currently running the GTA, a semi-autonomous administrative body, with the state government’s backing.
Gurung’s statement is being seen as an attempt to seek relevance as the TMC seeks to wrest the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat from the BJP, which won in 2014 because of the GJM’S support.