The Central government has asked the Army to remain on stand-by, while deploying 45,000 security personnel to prevent any untoward incident
With Assam on the edge ahead of the publication of the state citizens' list's first draft, the home ministry officials allayed fears, saying that Indian nationals whose names don't figure in the list will get adequate opportunities to prove their credentials.
The Central government has asked the Army to remain on stand-by, while deploying 45,000 security personnel to prevent any untoward incident. The first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be released around midnight. Intelligence inputs have suggested possible tension in some parts of the state, where names of doubtful citizens might be excluded in the draft list.
"No one should have any notion that anyone or any particular community could be discriminated against. Everyone is treated equally and all Indian nationals will get adequate opportunities to prove their credentials, in case their names are excluded in the first list," the official said.
Last week, Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba spent two days in the state, reviewing the preparations for the publication of the part draft of NRC. Following a series of meetings between the Central and state governments, and the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), it was decided to update the NRC in 2005.
The exercise got a major push after the BJP came to power in the state, which had a major poll plank of driving out the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The Supreme Court had also ordered that the first draft of the NRC be published by December 31, after completing the scrutiny of over two crore claims, along with those submitted by nearly 38 lakh people, whose documents were suspect. Of the 3.28 crore applications submitted, there was confusion over the inclusion of 29 lakh people, who had submitted certificates issued by 'gram panchayats' as proof of identity, after a Gauhati High Court order in February had deemed 'panchayat' certificates invalid, the official said.
The SC set aside the HC order and upheld the validity of the certificates as identity proof, if they were followed up with proper verification. The Apex Court also asked the authorities to stick to the original deadline for publication of the draft NRC and include names of those whose claims were verified.
When the NRC was first prepared in Assam way back in 1951, the state had a population of 80 lakh. A six-year agitation, demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants, was launched by the AASU in 1979. It culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985, in the presence of the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal also sought to dispel apprehensions and said "genuine" Indians missing from the citizenship register would get enough opportunities to incorporate their names. "No one should have any apprehensions. If the name of a genuine Indian citizen is missing in the part draft of the NRC, he or she will get proper chance to incorporate it," he said. "There is no need for panic. Genuine Indian citizens will not be deprived of their rights," he added.
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