Assam CM appeals people to maintain peace in view of final NRC publication

A day before the publication of the final list of the government's National Register of Citizens (NRC), Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal urged upon the people of Assam to maintain peace and tranquillity in the state.

"The NRC, which has been updated by the State NRC Coordinator and his team under the monitoring of the Supreme Court of India and supervision of the Registrar General of India, is an outcome of the untiring efforts of the thousands of people," he said in a statement.

"Those people whose names have been excluded from proposed NRC, would get an opportunity to file their appeal and be heard in the Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) as per the direction of the Union Home Ministry," the Chief Minister said.

Sonowal said that the Assam government will take care of the cause of the excluded people and due care will be taken so that nobody is subjected to any "unnecessary harassment".

"The fact that extension of filing an appeal from 60 days to 120 days to the Foreigners' Tribunal, will help all the excluded persons to enjoy a level playing field. The Government of Assam will take care of the cause of the excluded people and due care will be taken so that nobody is subjected to any unnecessary harassment," he said.

The Chief Minister asserted a person cannot be treated as "foreigner" as long as the appellant's plea remains sub-judice with the Foreigner's Tribunal.

NRC is a register containing names of Indian citizens, which was prepared for the only time in 1951. It is being updated for Assam as of now to weed out illegal immigrants.

Last month, the Supreme Court had extended the deadline for the final publication of NRC from July 31 to August 31. It had rejected a plea to extend the NRC deadline for sample verification.

Ahead of the move, central paramilitary forces have been directed to maintain law and order in Assam.