Hajela's successor 'criticised' NRC on social media, should be

Congress Lok Sabha Member Abdul Khaleque on Wednesday demanded that the appointment of new NRC State Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma be cancelled for his alleged controversial posts on the exercise on social media.

Sarma, an Assam Civil Service officer who was on Saturday appointed as the NRC State Coordinator in place of Prateek Hajela, is yet to take charge.

Addressing a press conference here, Khaleque showed Facebook posts purportedly written by Sarma, and alleged that the posts criticised the NRC process and were controversial in nature from religious, linguistic and ethnic point of view.

"We cannot expect such updates from a government official. If the government wants peace in the state and wish that peoples' faith remain in the government, then Hitesh Dev Sarma's appointment should be immediately cancelled. I have already written about this to the chief minister," the senior Congress leader said.

"The appointment of the successor of Prateek Hajela implies that the state government does not want a correct NRC. This officer has already made many controversial statements (on social media). It is not the question of whether those are right or wrong. An official must be neutral," he said.

Hajela, an IAS officer, ensured publication of the final version of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on August 31. He has been transferred to his home state Madhya Pradesh following a direction of the Supreme Court.

Sources in the NRC authority told PTI that Sarma is yet to take charge though Hajela was released on November 11.

"He (Sarma) has questioned Constitutional values and clauses many times. In such a case, he should not remain as a government servant. There should be a proper enquiry against him and his statements. Moreover, he had opposed the update process of the NRC," Khaleque alleged.

Sarma had earlier served in the NRC Authority from 2013 to 2016 as the Executive Director of the body.

The Congress leader also claimed that the officer had even questioned the Assam Accord, which is an outcome of a movement and has been accepted by all.

Assam has seen a huge influx from other places, particularly Bangladesh, since the early 20th century. It did not stop even after Independence, with a large number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, both Hindus and Muslims, settling there.

Identification, detention and deportation of such immigrants was a major demand over which the All Assam Students Union (AASU) launched a 6-year movement which ended with the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985.

"He (Sarma) served under both Congress and AGP rule. If he has so much problem with the Accord, he should not have continued in the service. It is not about Congress or BJP. If a government officer supports a particular party publicly, he fails to remain a neutral government servant," Khaleque said.

He also questioned why the cyber cell of the Assam Police did not take note of his controversial posts and wondered "if this government is blind or its intelligence is a total failure".

Khaleque said when Hajela was the State Coordinator, the Congress was not convinced with all his decisions, but the IAS officer took the process forward under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

"In the final list, 19 lakh people were excluded and we believe that many genuine Indians were left out. Some allege that many foreigners have been included.... We have full faith in the Supreme Court. We believe all the Indian citizens who had been left out will get justice and foreigners' names will be dropped," he said.

In 2009, an NGO, Assam Public Works (APW), filed a petition in the Supreme Court praying that names of 41 lakh foreigners be deleted from the electoral rolls of Assam and the NRC updated. In response to the petition, the Centre told the apex court that the 1951 NRC was being updated.

The updated final NRC, which validates bonafide Indian citizens of Assam, has left out over 19 lakh applicants.