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NRC exclusions aggravate Assam siblings' worry

Last Updated 15 September 2019, 14:49 IST

To make it to the updated list of NRC an applicant primarily required a legacy data to prove that they or their forefathers lived in Assam before March 24, 1971, and a document to prove his or her linkage with the legacy person.

The siblings using the same legacy data had to also go through family tree verification to prove that they actually are the sons and daughters of the legacy person.

The final list of NRC released on August 31, to the shock and surprise of many, however, left out one sibling while the others were included despite using the same legacy data and going through the prescribed process.

"I was quite sure about my name in the final list since the names of my three brothers appeared in the first and final draft. I and my brothers had submitted the same land paper of 1965 in my father's name as a legacy data. My father died in 2012. Despite that, NRC authorities called me for a hearing after the draft was released, where I again submitted the same legacy document and my school certificate as a proof of linkage. They also called my brother to the NRC centre for family tree verification. How can they now leave me out when all my three brothers were included?" asked 40-year-old Amrita Basak of Barpeta Road town in western Assam.

"Why should I go to a foreigner tribunal when I have all the documents? Is it not an insult to me and my family?" she asked angrily.

Kalpana Paul, another Hindu Bengali resident of Pratapkhata village in Kokrajhar district, too has been left out whereas her brothers were included.

According to All Assam Bengali Students' Federation, similar cases are common among nearly 10 lakh Hindu Bengalis, who have been left out of the final NRC list. "My elder sister's name has been left out, whereas they included me and my younger sister. How can one sister be a foreigner and rest of the siblings Indians? The NRC authorities should have told us during the hearing if they required more documents. These people are suffering from depression after being insulted like this. Who is to be blamed for this?" said Bappi Sarkar, a leader of the federation.

Over 19.06 lakh people, out of the 3.30 crore applicants were left out of the NRC.

While organisations like All Assam Students' Union has demanded re-verification of the NRC alleging that many foreigners have made it to the final list with fake documents, some have demanded that the siblings dropped out of the NRC should be given another opportunity to go through their documents again before pushing them to foreigner tribunals to prove their citizenship.

NRC officials were not available for a reaction on such cases.

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(Published 15 September 2019, 14:08 IST)

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