Updated: November 6, 2020 10:47:02 am
Assam’s Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Ahead of the elections in Assam early next year, Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media on Thursday that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) released in August last year is “fundamentally incorrect” and that a new exercise after the elections if the Supreme Court allows it.
Sarma also said that the “modern Mughals”, without defining the term, had entered all aspects of life in Assam and that a long political struggle was needed to stop them. “The fight to eliminate the ‘adhunik’ (modern) Mughals from Assam will be long … if we can fight them for another five years, it will be enough to defeat them,” he said, adding that “the delimitation and the NRC” were essential for the fight.
Sarma reiterated the allegation that former NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela, who was transferred to Madhya Pradesh last year by the Supreme Court after his relationship with the state government deteriorated, was instrumental in preparing a ” NRC fundamentally wrong. “
The NRC has excluded 19 lakh applicants, including a considerable number of Hindus.
“Yes, the SC monitored the NRC exercise, but Prateek Hajela manipulated it in such a way that, we can say, the thief became a policeman. You prepared a fundamentally incorrect NRC. After the elections, a new NRC exercise will be held if the CV allows. We are already seeking permission from the SC to allow re-verification of the names included, ”said Sarma.
The state government has appealed to the Supreme Court to reverify the names included in the NRC: 20% of the names included in the border districts and 10% elsewhere.
In July last year, the Assam government and the Center asked the SC for such a verification exercise, but the high court did not accept it after Hajela submitted that verification of 27% of the names had already been carried out. The main ministers and officials have reiterated that the state government abides by their demand for such re-verification. The CV had mentioned the possibility of reverifying the sample in an order in 2018, saying the court could consider reverifying 10 percent of the names included in the second draft of the NRC.
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