24 THE WEEK • AUGUST 4, 2019
COVER STORY
ASSAMThere is also a covert campaign
to bring together Bengali-speaking
Hindus and Muslims who oppose the
NRC. The campaign, started by a sec-
tion of Muslims, is named Cholo Pa-
lati (Let’s Change)—a Bengali phrase
that helped the BJP end communist
rule in Tripura.
“Together, [Bengali-speaking]
Hindus and Muslims in Assam out-
number the Assamese,” said Nasiur
Rahaman, a trader in Boko. “So we
are trying to bring both the commu-
nities closer and start a movement.
The only problem is that the Hindu
community, from which around 10
lakh people have been declared as
non-citizens, is busy making a deal
with the Indian government.”
But many say the campaign is un-
realistic. “Bengali Hindus will never
come on board with Muslims,” said
lawyer Azad Siddiqui, who is fighting
the cases of many people who have
been declared foreigners. “Hundreds
of crores of rupees have been spent
by one community in Assam. Lakhs
of poor people are spending money
to establish their citizenship. Hindus
would not have to fight, because they
would get the Citizenship (Amend-
ment) Bill.”
The bill seeks to provide citizenship
to those who had been forced to seek
shelter in India because of religious
persecution in their home countries.Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists,
Parsis and Christians who entered
India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and
Afghanistan can apply for citizenship
under the proposed law.
The final NRC was to be published
on July 31. On July 16, the Union
and state governments moved the Su-
preme Court to extend the deadline
set by the court to publish the final
NRC. They asked for more time to
carry out a “sample re-verification”,
which involved verifying the citi-
zenship status of 20 per cent of the
population in districts bordering
Bangladesh, and 10 per cent of the
population in other districts. On July
23, the court extended the deadline
by a month, but denied the re-verifi-
cation request.
The day the Centre approached the
Supreme Court seeking an extension,
Union Home Minister Amit Shah told
the Rajya Sabha that the government
wanted to deport illegal immigrants
outside Assam as well. “Currently,
the NRC is part of the Assam Accord,”
he said. “The Centre is dedicated to
weaning out illegal immigrants from
every inch of this country. We will
make sure that all such immigrants
are deported as per international
l a w .”
According to an NRC official in
Assam, people who are suspected to
be foreigners have to provide severaldocuments to prove their citizenship.
These include relevant details from
the 1951 census and from the voters
lists of 1966 and 1971. In the absence
of such information, a person has to
produce ‘legacy data’, proving that his
father, grandfather or great-grandfa-
ther had lived in India. “Then there is
the requirement of a link certificate
from the government to prove that he
is part of that family,” said the official.
“That could be a birth certificate,
school-leaving certificate or a ration
card.”
Problems arise when there are
discrepancies in the documents. “Ei-
ther the name of the father is wrong
or it does not tally with government
documents. Forgery is rampant,
because of which even true citizens
are harassed, as the tribunal has to go
through all the documents,” said the
official.
Legal experts say the inhumane
attitude of the government is appall-
ing. “The departments related to the
NRC process do not have adequate
representation of Muslims,” said law-
yer Nazrul Islam. “No matter which
party is in power—the Congress or
the BJP—they never thought of giving
proper representation to Muslims
in tribunals. Of the 100 foreigners’
tribunal benches in Assam, there is
not a single judge who belongs to the
Muslim community.”
He said the objective of the NRC
process is not to expel Muslims, but
to snatch their voting rights. “The aim
is to snatch the property and voting
rights of Bengali Muslims, who make
up 70 per cent of the one crore Mus-
lims in Assam,” said Islam. “Earlier, it
was done through violence. This time,
the silent atrocity of branding Mus-
lims as foreigners has gone beyond
violence.”THE GATEKEEPERS
NRC officials in Nagaon checking
the documents of people whose
names did not figure in the draft listPTI