Lack of clarity on status of those left out of NRC

Guwahati: A day after 19 lakh people were declared stateless citizens in Assam, neither the government nor Registrar General of India have come forth to clarify their status.

In the final draft of the NRC, out of 3.3 crore applicants, 3.11 crore names were found to be eligible for inclusion in the updated NRC. A total of 19.06 lakh persons were excluded.

The NRC is a list of people who can prove that they came to Assam before March 24, 1971, a day before Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan.

According to the RGI, people who have been excluded from the final list of NRC will have to file appeal in Foreigners Tribunals (FT) and subsequently in the High Court and the Supreme Court to prove their citizenship.

The Union ministry of home affairs has extended the number of days from 60 to 120 days for filing an appeal to the Foreigners Tribunal.

Experts pointed out that for submitting an appeal before the FT, people who are left out will have to submit a certificate of non-inclusion of names in the NRC.

Stating that it is not known long will it take for the RGI to issue certificates to all the 19 lakh people who have been left out, a senior advocate said that the home ministry has not clarified whether the 120-day period would be counted.

Suggesting that the ministry should start the count the day after the RGI issues the certificate, he said that if it is counted from the NRC publication, it would be chaotic.

The BJP-led government has ruled out the detention of people who do not figure in the NRC under any circumstance till the time an FT doesn’t declare them as foreigner.