Foolproof security ahead of additional NRC draft publication

Assam police are taking all security measures ahead of NRC additional draft scheduled on June 15. The Supreme Court has directed the State Coordinator, NRC of Assam and the Union Home Ministry to publish final updated NRC by July 31, this year.

Guwahati (Assam):Assam police have taken adequate security measures ahead of the publication of the additional draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), DGP Kuladhar Sakia said on Tuesday.

The additional draft of NRC is slated to be published on June 15.

"Foolproof security will be provided and it is already in place. We are providing such security measures ever since the NRC process began. If required, we will reinforce it," DGP said.

"All the safety and security measures are there and it will be reinforced if required. We will not allow any untoward situation to happen. Nobody will be allowed to take law in their hand. We are ready for any challenge," he added.

The Supreme Court has directed the State Coordinator, NRC of Assam and the Union Home Ministry to publish the final updated NRC by July 31, this year. The NRC updating process is going on in Assam under the monitoring of the Supreme Court to detect the illegal foreigners residing in the state.

The complete draft of NRC, containing names of 28,983,677 people out of 32,991,384 applicants was published on July 30, last year. The hearing of claims and objections are underway across the state.

However, some people claimed that the names of some of their family members appeared in the complete draft of the NRC while the names of other members of the family were not included.

77-year-old Arati Dasgupta, resident of Lalganesh area in Guwahati said that her name was not there in the complete draft of the NRC even though her husband had worked as an employee in Indian Railways.

"What will I say. I once again visited NRC Seva Kendra after their calling and submitted all the documents related to my husband. I don't know if my name will appear in the upcoming list or not," Arati Dasgupta said.

Not only, Arati Dasgupta, but even her son Mainak Dasgupta and daughter-in-law's names did not appear in the complete draft of the NRC.

The process has not been free from controversies with Assam Jamiat Ulama alleging that Muslims have been targeted during the NRC process.

"Some elements of Assam have targeted Muslims during the NRC process and they harassed the original Indian citizens," Assam Jamiat Ulama general secretary Fasdul Karim Qasimi said acknowledging that there are illegal Bangladeshis in Assam.

"The Assam Jamiat Ulama wants to deport all the illegal foreigners from the state," he said.