Assam citizen draft release today, govt prepares for unrest
Many worried about losing their citizenship; those left out have chance to register claims: CM
GUWAHATI: There is anxiety and anticipation in Assam as the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which establishes citizenship, is set to be released on July 30 after a mammoth and controversial drive to weed out ‘illegal immigrants’.
The first part of the draft, released on December 31, 2017, had included names of 19 million of the state’s 33 million applicants.
Amid fears that those not included in the list might be declared foreigners and sent to detention centres, senior ministers and officials have been assuring residents not to panic and fall prey to rumours. On Wednesday, Union home minister Rajnath Singh asked people in Assam “not to worry” and directed the state government not to initiate any action against those whose names don’t appear in the list.
“People need to know that it is the final draft, not the complete list. Those whose names are missing will get a chance to register claims and clarifications between August 1 and September 28 to get their names enlisted,” Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said. In a statement issued on Sunday, Sonowal termed the NRC list as a “security shield” for the future of Assam’s residents.
The complete list will be released only after all claims are
settled. Officials are tight-lipped about names of how many applicants might be missing from Monday’s list. The NRC is being updated in Assam for the first time after 1951 to identify those who may have entered the state
from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971, a date agreed in the Assam Accord signed between the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Centre in 1985.
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