A group of 131 academics, intellectuals, professionals and civil society leaders in Assam have sought rescheduling of hearings for National Register of Citizens applicants who have been issued notices to have their citizenship documents re-verified within a very short time.
In an appeal to the Supreme Court, which has been monitoring the NRC updating exercise, the 131 signatories said the “sudden, suspicious and mischievous” notices have created panic among a section of the people who were included in the draft NRC published on July 30, 2018.
“The people of Assam have been supporting the NRC updating process and participating in the hearings and verifications, sometimes even by paying huge costs in terms of time, energy and financial resources. Nevertheless, they are ready to go through any verification whenever required for the greater interest of an error-free and just NRC,” said the appeal to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi submitted to the court’s Registrar on Tuesday.
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‘Panicky situation’
“However, we would like to draw your kind attention regarding the panicky situation created by suspicious and mischievous notices served to NRC applicants for reverification by the NRC authority in Assam. Now notices are being served to people and they are asked to go in far-flung areas with a short notice of one or two days,” the appeal reads.
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“The people of Assam in general and people living in riverine areas in particular have experienced one of the worst floods in recent years. They are struggling to cope with the losses and many of them are still living in temporary relief camps. Under such circumstances, if these people are asked to attend the NRC hearing giving them just one or two days and summoned to 500-600 km away from their homes, there is little doubt that a large number of them wouldn’t be able to attend the hearings,” the signatories said.
‘At least a week’
They asked the court to direct the NRC authority to reschedule the hearing either within the district or within adjoining districts and provide at least a week’s time so that the applicants could attend the hearing and complete the process within the August 31 deadline.
“Kindly direct the NRC authority to make the notice available on the Internet along with the physical serving so that people living in other States can also access the same and attend the hearing accordingly,” the signatories said, also seeking instruction to the district administration to provide basic transport facilities in the greater interest of an error-free and fair NRC.