Names of illegal Bangladeshis included in NRC, alleges ABVP

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has alleged that names of scores of Bangladeshis living illegally in Assam have been included and indigenous people left out in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The students wing of the RSS held NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela responsible for the faults in the document, the final version of which is scheduled to be published on August 31.

"If the NRC is published in this form, lakhs of indigenous people will be left out. It is being deliberately done by Hajela. We fear that a faulty NRC will be published," ABVP Assam pradesh secretary Rakesh Das said at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Demanding 100 per cent re-verification of the applications, Das said people have waited for 30 years for the NRC and there should not be any problem if it gets delayed for a few more months for the sake of a correct document.

In its order passed on Tuesday, the Supreme Court said the ongoing NRC exercise, which is being monitored by the apex court, cannot be ordered to be reopened on the basis of certain legal challenges raised before it.

On July 23, the top court had extended the deadline for publication of the final NRC in Assam by a month to August 31, while rejecting the pleas seeking permission for 20 per cent sample re-verification.

The Centre and the Assam government had sought permission for sample re-verification to find out wrongful inclusions, especially in districts bordering Bangladesh, and exclusions of persons in the NRC.

Assam, which had faced influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th Century, is the only state having an NRC that was first prepared in 1951.