NRC re-verification fear grips people in Assam
A fear of being rendered stateless has gripped thousands of people in Assam after they received 24-hour notices from the NRC authorities for re-verification of their citizenship claim
Ahead of the much-hyped Aug.31 publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a fear of being rendered stateless has gripped thousands of people in some districts of Assam ater they received 24-hour notices from the NRC authorities for re-verification of their citizenship claim.
Thousands of people particularly from Goalpara, Barpeta, Chenga, Boko, Chaygaon constituencies were summoned by the NRC authorities in far off places like Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivsagar, Dhemaji and others to prove their citizenship claim.
The people were served the notices on Aug.3 and 4 and were asked them to appear before the NRC centres on Aug.5, giving them very litle time to travel to such far off places over 500 kms away.
“One bus carrying over 50 such persons from Sontoli village in Kamrup to Golaghat met with an accident at Khanapara area of the city on Sunday night injuring over 30 of them. These were all poor people and for them it is not possible to travel such a long distance at such short notice.
“However, somehow they managed to get ready but this accident happened,” said Barpeta based activist Ashraful Hussain on Monday.
He said that one Razia Khatun (68) died due to heat stroke in one of the NRC centres at Kaliabar subdivision in Nagaon district.
“Khatun a resident of Joakatdia village in Kamrup district was summoned to NRC centre at Naltoli in Kaliabar for re-verification,” Hussain said.
Assam Pradesh Congress Commitee (APCC) President Ripun Bora on Monday dashed off a leter to union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to stop immediately the “illegal” order for re-verification of the NRC drat list in Assam.
“The Supreme Court has recently rejected the petition of the Assam government and central government for 20 per cent reverification of the names of people in drat NRC list. But surprisingly the NRC authority hurriedly issued thousands of notices to different persons across the state fixing Aug.5 as date for re-verification.
“This has created panic as the people have noticed just one or two days ahead of the date,” Bora said in his leter to Shah and sought his intervention. Several social organisations have also condemned the sudden move of the NRC authorities and said innocent poor people have been subjected to suffering in the name of re-verification.
“How can the issue of re-verification even occur when the Supreme Court has rejected the petitions of the state and Central government seeking re-verification?
“We demand an explanation from the NRC authorities in this regard,” said Hiren Gohain, a scholar and chairman of Forum against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016.
The Tripura government will set up an ambitious ‘Cultural Hub’ at a cost of Rs 200 crore to promote cultural unity among the northeastern states, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said.
“The state government has decided to set up a ‘Cultural Hub’ in Tripura which would integrate and boost the diverse and traditional cultural harmony among the northeastern states,” Deb said at an event here on Monday night.
He said that the state government has given priority to encourage and further develop the traditional life and culture of the 19 tribes, who constitute one third of Tripura’s four million population. “In the current financial year (201920), 410 cultural events of tribals and non-tribals are being organised across the state,” Deb said, adding that as part of the state’s multifaceted efforts to develop the rich culture of Tripura, a regional centre of the Lalit Kala Akademi, India’s national academy of fine arts, has been set up in Agartala.
An official of the state’s Information and Cultural Affairs Department said that a detailed proposal was submited to the government for the proposed ‘Cultural Hub’, a first of its kind in the region.
He said that to set up the hub, help and guidance would be sought from the Kolkata-based Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Dimapur’s North Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, both under the Union Ministry of Culture.
The official said that full-fledged centres of four autonomous bodies under the Union Ministry of Culture - Lalit Kala Akademi, National School of Drama, Sahitya Akademi, Sangeet Natak Akademi - would be accommodated in the hub.