The BJP government in Assam on Monday published the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC), from which about 40 lakh residents of the state were excluded, which as a result pegs them as illegal immigrants.
Hence as reported by the media, out of the total 3.29 crore people in the state, only 2.89 crores have been deemed as eligible to be included in the list. The state’s NRC coordinator though assured that those not included can raise an appeal.
Even though this decision of the Assam government resonated with many, the Congress and the TMC have come out to oppose it.
Following the publication of the draft, the TMC’s MP Sougata Roy gave an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha, which was followed by an uproar by the party’s MPs, which subsequently led to an adjournment till 12 PM. One of its leaders also alleged that this decision would have “serious ramifications on the demography” of the states adjoining Assam.
Even its official social media accounts issued a statement calling it an inhuman decision:
#BREAKING Trinamool give Notice and raise the issue of inhuman #NRCAssam in #RajyaSabha. Other Opposition parties join. Immediately set right this inhuman decision. And statement from PM. In #LokSabha also Trinamool give adjournment motion. RS adjourned till noon
— AITC (@AITCofficial) July 30, 2018
Subsequently, in a press conference, TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee also plunged into the matter by claiming that people having Aadhaar cards and Passports too have not been included in the list. She further alleged that people have been excluded on the basis of their surnames and questioned whether the government was carrying out a forceful eviction.
She also claimed that people are being isolated via a game plan to throw out Bengali speakers and Biharis, and questioned as to where would these 40 lakh non included citizens go. She also alleged that this exercise was vote politics by the BJP.
The Congress party in Assam too has expressed its opposition by claiming that 40 lakh exclusions are too high and surprising. It thus alleged that the BJP had a political motive behind the NRC. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge too has termed the exclusion to be wrong.
Incidentally, such an opposition against the exclusion was also noted in the past, when Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind’s chief – Maulana Syed Arshad Madani openly threatened that if 50 lakh Muslims were left out of the NRC, the state of Assam would burn. He had also threatened that such an exclusion would lead to retaliation and killings.
