FIR against Assam NRC officer over 'exclusion'

An organisation representing Assamese Muslims on Wednesday lodged an FIR against NRC coordinator, Prateek Hajela alleging "intentional exclusion" and bringing out a "farcical document" after a huge expenditure.

In the FIR lodged at Latasil police station here, leaders of the organisation, Asom Garia-Maria Yuba Chatra Parishad said that Hajela should be held responsible for bringing out the final NRC list with anomalies. "The final NRC is a farce and a waste of time and resources. It is full of anomalies as despite using the same legacy, three members of a family were included but two others left out. Even armed forces personnel have been excluded. This should not have happened to the original inhabitants of Assam," said the organisation, while seeking action against Hajela.

Hajela, an IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, hailing from Madhya Pradesh was appointed as the state coordinator in 2013 to update the 1951 NRC with March 24, 1971 cut-off date to solve the state's vexed foreigner problem. Hajela was appreciated by several organisations after the draft NRC was released on July 30 last year, which excluded over 40.07 lakh applicants. But the IAS officer came under severe attack from BJP-led Assam government as well as from most organisations fighting against foreigners illegally living in the state. They alleged that Hajela failed to prevent entry of "large number of foreigners" in the updated NRC with manipulated documents while genuine citizens, including indigenous people were left out. The final NRC list released on August 31 left out 19,06,645 applicants.

Over one lakh STs excluded:

Rights and Risk Analysis Group, a New Delhi-based rights group claimed that over one lakh Scheduled Tribe (ST), who are original inhabitants of Assam have been left out of the updated NRC despite submitting documents.

"A preliminary survey states that about 25,000 Bodos, 9,000 Reangs, 8,000 Hajongs and thousands of persons belonging to other tribes have been excluded from the NRC," said a statement issued by Suhas Chakma, Director of the organisation. NRC authorities, however, has not released any such data yet.