New Delhi: Days after Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi publicly defended the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam by calling it “a base document for the future”, Tarun Gogoi, former Chief Minister of Assam, criticised his statement and said that it is “surprising” that a CJI could make such a statement.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Gogoi said, “It is very surprising that a CJI makes such a statement. He said that the exclusion of 19 lakh people from NRC is not very important, how can this be. It is the responsibility of the judiciary to ensure that the rights and privileges granted to each citizen by the Constitution is preserved.”
“Instead of protecting individual rights, if the CJI makes such a statement. I don’t agree that this is a future document. It is most unfortunate,” added the veteran politician.
Addressing the launch of a book titled ‘Postcolonial Assam 1947-2019’ by documentary filmmaker and author Mrinal Talukdar, the CJI had said, “Assam NRC is not a document of the moment… But a base document for the future. A document on which we can determine future claims… 19 lakh or 40 lakh is not the point.”
His statement evoked a sharp response, with many saying that the CJI should not have made such comments publicly, especially considering the controversial and political nature of the NRC exercise.
On the exclusion of more than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants from the NRC that was published on August 31, Gogoi said, “NRC was my baby and I wanted it to be foolproof. I wanted that the document should contain the names of all Indian citizens, excluding all foreigners. But unfortunately, the NRC has made the lives of lakhs of Indian citizens miserable.”
Further criticising the final NRC, the Congress leader said, “staring at an uncertain future, people are being forced to go to the Foreigner’s Tribunal. Even as they are fighting to prove their citizenship, they have already been declared foreigners.”
Also read: Another 'Foreigner' dies in Assam detention camp; kin refuse to accept body
When asked about Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement stating that his government would "throw out all infiltrators" except Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, Gogoi said, “This is the reason that we are opposing this NRC. In fact, I had suggested that the original Indian citizens who are persecuted on the basis of religion or any other form of discrimination, should be considered on humanitarian grounds and they should be given asylum. But, I don’t make any distinction between Hindus and Muslims.”
BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday declared that the party will “throw out all infiltrators one by one” by enforcing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) while simultaneously clarifying that no Hindu, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist need to worry because they will be accorded Indian citizenship beforehand with the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
