The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday asked the Assam government not to take action against individuals who are not on the draft National Register of Citizens. The controversial document is scheduled to be published on July 30.
The Centre has deployed more than 22,000 central paramilitary troops to maintain the law and order situation in Assam and neighbouring states ahead of the document’s publication, PTI reported.
“There is no question of referring the persons whose names do not figure in the draft NRC to the Foreigners’ Tribunal as people are entitled to file claims and objections and due opportunity has to be given to them before final publication,” the ministry said in a statement. “The question of referring any person to a detention centre based on the National Register of Citizens also does not arise. The state government has been asked to issue clear instructions in this regard to all administrative and police functionaries.”
The ministry’s notification said it had recommended the forming of a state-level coordination committee to ensure coordination between National Register of Citizens officials and Central and state agencies. It asked the Assam government to set up 24/7 control rooms to respond to complaints about violations.
On Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said his government would provide security to all Indian citizens and that no one should worry about the “after affects” of the document’s publication, the news agency reported.
On July 22, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that people would get adequate opportunity to make claims and objections to the draft. In an attempt to allay fears of exclusion, Singh said the final draft will be prepared in an impartial, transparent and meticulous manner.
Assam began to update the National Register of Citizens in 2015 to create a definitive list of citizens of the state. The first draft was published on January 1, and has verified 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore who applied. The exercise is aimed at identifying illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
The home minister had said the Citizenship Rules allow a person to appeal in the Foreigner’s Tribunal. He had said that no one will be put in detention centres.
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