Ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections in Assam, the Union government will launch a mammoth exercise in the State asking people to prove their Indian citizenship by furnishing documents establishing their domicile till 1971.
Aimed at updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC), 1951, the exercise, being conducted in association with the State government, is expected to identify those who migrated to Assam from the erstwhile East Pakistan (Bangladesh) after March 24, 1971, midnight and are deemed illegal immigrants under the Citizenship Act.
With an eye on the elections, the BJP has been raising the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. “Assam polls will be for freeing the State from illegal Bangladeshi immigrants,” party president Amit Shah said at a recent rally in Assam. “The idea of updating the NRC was first mooted a decade ago by the then Assam Chief Minister at a meeting with the then Prime Minister held to review the Assam Accord,” a government official said. “It being a Union subject, the Central government has taken upon itself the task of conducting the exercise.”
Through its regional office, and in coordination with the State, the Registrar-General of India is monitoring the process. Prateek Hajela, IAS officer designated the State coordinator, is heading the operation.
The State government will start circulating NRC application forms from May 10-11, to be submitted with supporting documents by July 31.
