By A Ghiyasuddin, TwoCircles.net,
Guwahati: The updating of National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the major development taking place in Assam at the present time.
National Register of Citizens (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 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 the citizenship in Assam, where propaganda about illegal Bangladeshi is rampant and often violent.
The ongoing NRC update process in Assam will enlist the names of genuine citizens based on NRC 1951 and electoral rolls up to midnight of March 24, 1971.
Everybody in the state wants the process of updating should be finished so that the ‘shame’ and harassment that Muslims of Bengali origin have to face, would end. The ‘community’ (Muslims of Bengali origin in Assam) that is, more often than not, branded as ‘illegal Bangladeshi immigrants’ has welcomed the process. Some of the community organizations like CCSP, All BTC Minority Students’ Union, All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) etc.; and various activists are putting efforts to make the process of NRC updating a success.
To help the process by providing necessary information, a group of young, energetic and cross community individuals have formed a support group called Citizen Support Group (CSG). NRC Helpline portal is a private initiative by Atiqur Rahman Barbhuiya on behalf of Citizen Support Group for smooth and efficient updating of the NRC in Assam. The CSG has identified internet as one of the most efficient platform to reach a large number audience and decided to launch the web portal www.nrchelpline.com.
“The updating of NRC has been one of the most debated topics in socio-political sphere of Assam. At the same time, there is huge ambiguity and deficit of correct information on the process and modalities of updating the NRC in the ground,” Atiqur Rahman Barbhuiya told TwoCircles.ne, adding, “Though the government machinery is disseminating information about the NRC updating process on newspapers and other media. However, it was felt that, updating of error free NRC is not the responsibility of government alone.”
It is obligation on the part of every conscious citizen of Assam to support the government machinery through creating awareness, dissemination information and helping the genuine India citizen to get registered in the updated NRC, he said.
The website will have all the updates regarding the NRC including the media reports and articles written by experts which are published in different journals, magazines and newspapers. Besides, the visitors of the page can also take part in conversation with the experts.
Meanwhile, several faults have been identified in NRC updation work. In NRC Seva Kendras (NSK) and in website the copy of 1951 NRC has been published partially. The authority should ensure the publication of the NRC in full.
There are mistakes even in the names, numbers, and village names and even in the names of the districts. Some of the villages of Barpeta district have been shown as the villages in Baska district in the Legacy Data. Hafiz Ahmed, president of Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad (CCSP), a literary body of the state, who also work for the cause of the minorities demanded that these mistakes must be rectified before the distribution of the application forms.
Ahmed also pointed that the voters list of 1966 has also been published partially, demanding that the state government should ensure the publication of full voters list of 1966. It should also ensure the publication of all the voters’ lists of 1952, 1954, 1959, 1962 and others published prior to 1971, Ahmed said.
There are some mistakes in the names already published voters lists at NSK. CCSP has demanded that all these discrepancies should immediately be addressed. CCSP has demanded that special arrangement should be made at each NSK for issuance of Legacy Data code in case of non-availability of data in the in the search engine, but where copies of NRC and voters list prior to 1971 are available with the public.
Civil society activists have demanded that the functioning of the NRC should be monitored under the supervision of the highest authority. “In case of Link certificates for the married women, the certificates issued by the secretary of the local Gaon Panchayat should also be allowed to be counter-signed by Block Development Officers. The Sub Divisional Circles should be instructed to sign the certificate within five days of the submission. The married females should be allowed to prove their linkage by other government documents,” they further said.
All Assam Muslim Students’ Union (AAMSU), which has been conducting awareness camps across the state, said that it has to be updated at any cost for the overall betterment of the state and its people.
“There are many forces which might want to bring disturbances in the process but we want to ensure and ask the authorities concern so that it is completed in a flawless manner. We have tried to make the people aware regarding the documents which they needed to be provided. We respect the decision of the Supreme Court and we will try to obey it,” AAMSU general secretary Ainuddin Ahmed told TCN from Goalpara where he is attending such an awareness programme.
AAMSU has also asked the state government to make available all the necessary documents in the NSKs. “Some documents are not yet available. And there are numerous mistakes in the name of persons and places. So, the state government should make a clear statement how to deal with these issues,” he said.
Senior advocate and social worker Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury said that they sincerely believe that the updating of NRC should be completed soon.
The 1951 NRC was done on the basis of a circular of the home department but this NRC has the statutory value. “The non-availability of 1951 NRC in some places of the state makes the nodal officer’s (approved by the Supreme Court) job more crucial. The officials of the NSKs should also be trained properly to handle the works accurately and sincerely. The government should also make the arrangements to make available the necessary documents,” Choudhury told TCN.
Cachar, Karbi Anglong, Sivasagar, Baksa and Chirang district were not included in 1951 NRC. Besides, 251 villages in Nalbari, 625 in Tinsukia, 258 in Barpeta, 10 in Jorhat and 229 in Lakhimpur district were excluded in the 1951 NRC.
These organizations and activists are putting in lot of effort to create awareness among the affected masses about the NRC updating, to the extent that they have been organizing hundreds of meetings and workshops to educate the mass about the nuances of NRC updating process without any support from the government.
It seems that the community which has been always racially discriminated as ‘illegal Bangladeshi immigrant’ has resolved to end the ‘shame’ for once and all at any cost, wrote Abdul Kalam Azad, a post graduate student of Tata Institute of Social Science and activist in his blog.