The pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom has followed the Assam government and some minority organisations in seeking an extension of the deadline for filing claims and objections for the inclusion of names of genuine Indian citizens in the final updated National Register of Citizens. The last date for this phase of the NRC exercise is December 15.
Representing Sompreeti, an organisation formed by the pro-talks ULFA and Bongobhashi Asomiya Samaj, the faction’s general secretary, Anup Chetia, said that the panchayat elections in Assam robbed many people of valuable time to file their claims. “They deserve an extension because the claims and objections process was adversely affected by the rural polls,” he said.
The two-phase rural polls ended on Sunday. Mr. Chetia also demanded a high-level probe to ensure that the names of illegal foreigners are not included in the NRC. State NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela had some time ago told the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the exercise, that legacy data had been purchased and sold.
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Legacy data refers to a set of documents such as the 1951 NRC and electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971. A requisite for applicants was to establish linkage with people whose names figure in these documents.
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Guwahati-based human rights activist and senior advocate Debashis Sur said most NRC Seva Kendras have not been accepting documents of people despite a directive from the apex court. “The NRC officials are not accepting the documents of people excluded from the completed draft. This is a crime, since officials at the Seva Kendras are not competent to verify the authenticity of the documents,” he said.
Mr. Sur urged the Assam government and the NRC authorities to accept the claims and objection forms being submitted.
So far, about 10 lakh of the 40.07 lakh people excluded from the draft NRC have re-applied. Officials said some 230 objections (to the inclusion of names in the NRC) have been submitted.