Assam NRC: Cong MLA says ready to work with BJP, RSS for citizen's goodwill

Barpeta (Assam) [India], Sept 2 (ANI): Congress Sarukhetri MLA Zakir Hussain Sikdar on Monday expressed deep concerns over the genuine people whose names have been dropped from the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and said that he has no problem in working with the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for citizen's goodwill.

"Not only BJP but I am ready to work even with the RSS for the betterment of the public. If the BJP says that they are always there for people's goodwill then I can work with them. I have no issues in working together," Sikdar told ANI.

Showing concern over 19 lakh people who were dropped from the final list of NRC, Congress MLA said that not only him but many lawmakers of the state feel that names of the genuine Indian citizens were missing and they have been tagged as foreigners now.

He said that he met around 500 people today whose names were not mentioned in the list.

"Today only I met around 500 people, who did not get through in the final list, but their documents are authentic. They are very distressed," he said.

Sikdar said his party was striving to provide legal assistance to people.

"Congress has activated its legal teams across the state to provide all support and legal assistance to people so that they can pursue their case in Foreigners Tribunals," he said.

Congress MLA admitted that the NRC was necessary because several violence cases were reported in the past.

He also said that the NRC is a long process and in such a "complex framework, committing mistakes are very common".

Dismissing reports in a section of the media on the aspects of the final NRC as 'incorrect', Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Sunday had said that exclusion from the NRC does not make the excluded person "Stateless" and "Foreigner".

"It also does not make him or her "Foreigner", within the legal meaning of the term. They will not be deprived of any rights or entitlements which they have enjoyed before," he said.

The final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam was published on Saturday with 19.06 lakh people not included in it and around 3.11 crore people included as citizens of India.