NRC : BJP govt in Assam "anti-Bengali" - Assam Nagrik Mancha

The members of Assam Nagarik Mancha today accused the BJP government in the state of being "anti-Bengali" and demanded that a new NRC be published with the voter list of 2014 being the bench mark.

The complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), touted as a document of Assamese identity, was published last month and excluded the names of over 40 lakh people of the state.

"The BJP government in Assam is anti-Bengali. It wants to remove Bengalis from Assam," Bijay Chakraborty, general secretary of the Mancha, told newsmen here.

"The BJP came to power with the votes of these people and now all of a sudden they have become foreigners. We will never allow BJP to divide India on the basis of communal lines," he said.

Chakraborty said in the name of NRC the BJP is targeting Bengalis who have been living in Assam for the last several decades. "We demand that a new NRC should be published with the voter list of 2014 being the bench mark, he said.