Heavy Security Presence to Witness the Draft NRC

At the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2017, the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published. To witness this, the Union Home Ministry had deployed 200 companies of paramilitary personnel, and the state government had mobilized 250 companies of state police. The counter-insurgency grid consisting of the army, paramilitary forces, the state police, and intelligence agencies have also been activated. The total additional force deployment stands at around 50,000 personnel. This deployment has been done in anticipation of violence and unrest which may be triggered by people not finding their names on the NRC.

The NRC identifies citizens based on the person or ancestors living in Assam before the cut-off date of March 24, 1971. The move to update the NRC has attracted the ire of some commenters who view the exercise as seeking to disenfranchise Bengali Muslims. This is clear if one were to consider the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill will confer citizenship on a discriminatory basis, where persons who are Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh will have an easier process to apply for citizenship.

Out of the 3.29 crore people, who have submitted their documents over the last four years, the first draft contains the names of only 1.9 crore people. The remaining names will be updated after the documents submitted have been verified. The All Assam Students Union (AASU) responded to the news through its chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya saying that the NRC is a tribute to the martyrs of the Assam Agitation. The Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal has urged people not to panic if they do not find their names in the NRC, and that what is being published is only a draft and not the final document. Whether the force deployment is justified is a question that can only be answered after a few weeks. At present, people would be busy checking if their name has been featured on the draft NRC list.