Lack of clarity on legal battle baffles NRC leftouts

Himashree Talukdar, a housewife, received the shock of her life on Saturday morning when her three-year-old son, husband and in-laws were left out of the final list of NRC.

Her only solace was Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal's assurance that the government would help those left out of the NRC to move foreigner tribunals within 120 days. A lack of clarity on when and how to move the tribunals even after more than 24-hours has baffled the NRC dropouts.

"Before the publication of the NRC, the state government issued public notices asking people not to panic, as those left out can move the tribunals. But we have not seen any such notice on why our names have been left out and when we can file our appeal in the tribunal. Even we don't know which tribunal we should go," Himashree said, with fear and confusion writ on her face.

Himasree's family was among the 19,06,576 applicants who were left out from the final list of the updated NRC. "Now one day is precious for us. The government must clarify the guidelines without wasting time," she said.

The BJP-led government in Assam and local organisations agitating for NRC refuse to accept the updated NRC, citing anomalies. They plan to move the Supreme Court again seeking re-verification. The confusion among those left out of the register was growing.

Sources in the NRC office here told DH that the process to issue public notice about the next step for the left-outs came to a standstill after the state government categorically rejected the updated NRC.

As the politics over the NRC is set to drag on, parties are gearing up for a competition to offer legal aid to the left-outs.

"We will provide legal support to all genuine citizens, who were dropped from the list despite having pre-1971 documents. The way about how to go for appeals in the tribunals is vague even today. The state government must issue a public notice to address the confusion among the applicants," said Ripun Bora, president of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee.

The BJP, AGP and AIUDF also announced to offer legal aid.