By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: PB Acharya, the Assam and Nagaland governor, who has been in the headlines for wrong reasons after taking charge of Assam, has triggered yet another controversy by making what some are calling as “useless” statement.
His statement that the names of all the ‘Hindu refugees’ should be included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) list has been widely condemned by different sections of the people in the state. Earlier also, the governor was involved in a number of controversies.
Assam and Nagaland governor PB Acharya (Left) with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. (Photo: PIB)
On the sidelines of an even on Sunday at Silchar, Acharya said that the victims of religious persecution should not be left out in the process. “I’m in favour of inclusion of names of Hindu refugees, who came from erstwhile East Pakistan and took shelter in Assam due to religious harassment, on the other side of the border. If necessary, the Centre may include a clause in the law so that names of Hindu refugees can be included in the NRC,” the governor had said.
The NRC is a document containing the names of Indian citizens prepared in 1951. Unique to the state of Assam, this document was prepared to distinguish Indian citizens from illegal migrants from the then East Pakistan. The 1951 NRC certificate, along with the electoral roll in the voters’ list of 1966 and 1971, are the two important documents required to prove citizenship in Assam, where propaganda about illegal Bangladeshi is rampant and often violent.
Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Assam’s main regional party termed it as a political statement. “The Governor is supposed to be the Constitutional head of a state and he should not make such cheap statements like a political party spokesperson. According to the Assam Accord, anybody who came to Assam after 1971 is an illegal foreigner irrespective of his religion and/or caste. Such statement is really unfortunate,” said Manoj Saikia, AGP’s spokesperson.
Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad (CCSP), a literary body of the state, said that if the Governor wants to do that, he should make the arrangements so that the extra load of these people is divided across the country. CCSP president Hafiz Ahmed also condemned the Governor of making statement which will create communal tension in the state. “Why is that the Governor wants Assam to take the burden of these people? His logic cannot be accepted. This will surely disturb the Assamese nationality. It’s a political conspiracy to unsettle our state. We support the Assam Accord which was signed after a long agitation by All Assam Students’ Union in 1985 with the central government. It says that any person who came here after 1971 is an illegal foreigner,” Ahmed said.
He also slammed the governor for acting like a representative of BJP and Sangha Pariwar. “His behaviour does not seem that he is the head of the state but it looks like a BJP or RSS representative,” said Ahmed.
Urging the people, not to pay heed to such cheap statements, Ahmed said it’s the need of the hour to get the NRC list updated in time. “All the people of the state stay united and work for a better tomorrow. There are certain forces which do not want the proper NRC work to be done. We, the people, need to defy these ill powers,” he added.
Senior journalist of the state Manoran Gogoi said such statements by the head of the state are misleading and it will create confusion among the masses. “The NRC update process is being done in a process. Nobody has the right to say that this should be included or excluded. Such act is condemnable,” said Gogoi.