By : Rahul Karmakar
June 30 is deadline for final draft
Of Assam’s 14 MPs, All India United Democratic Front chief Badruddin Ajmal and his brother Sirajuddin Ajmal did not figure in the first draft of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on December 31 last year.
Also missing from the first draft containing 19 million names were at least 15 of Assam’s 126 MLAs. They included Badruddin Ajmal’s son Abdur Rahim Ajmal, who represents the AIUDF, perceived to be a pro-minority party, from the Jamunamukh constituency.
Off the list too were Boby Bhuyan Baruah, wife of separatist Paresh Baruah, who has been operating from neighbouring countries, including China, for three decades now, and their sons Ankur and Akash. Mr. Baruah leads the United National Front of Asom-Independent.
The MPs and MLAs — including the BJP’s Shiladitya Dev and Ashwini Rai Sarkar — and relatives of extremist leaders would rather wait for the final draft of the Supreme Court-monitored NRC to be out by the June 30 deadline. “The first list did not have my name despite my being an MLA for one term and an MP for two. The doors of the SC are open in case the name does not show up,” the AIUDF chief said a few days ago.
The leaders are not worried. But the likes of Moinal Islam, a mason from near Chhaygaon, west of Guwahati, who has been at a loss to explain why his father adds ‘Sheikh’ to his name while he doesn’t, and Subhas Saha of western Assam’s Dhubri town, half of whose family were excluded from the first draft despite having lived there for almost a century, are worried by speculation that up to four million people — mostly Bengali Hindus and Muslims — would become stateless after June 30.
Misplaced fears: official
“These are misplaced fears. We cannot quantify at this moment, but the number of people who might get left out would be 50,000 at most. Even then, they will get an opportunity to prove their citizenship through claims and objections,” Prateek Hajela, State NRC Coordinator, told The Hindu .
About 2,500 NRC centres across the State would continue to handle claims and objections before being wound up. A few centres would remain to continue the process of enlisting children of those who find their names in the updated NRC.
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Courtesy: The Hindu
For original write-up refer to the following link
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/nrc-omissions-raise-fear-in-assam/article24249247.ece