Chief Justice of India – Ranjan Gogoi on November 3, supported the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and said that it is a “base document for the future.”
While speaking at the “Post Colonial Assam – 1947 to 2019” book launch event Gogoi said that NRC is a solution “within the framework”. He even decried the “armchair commentators” who “seek to present a highly distorted picture”. Gogoi, who is also a son of former Assam Chief Minister gave the nod for the implementation of the NRC in the state through judicial orders. As a CJI, he is also monitoring the implementation of NRC.
At the event, he attacked the detractors of the NRC and said that Assamese have always demanded NRC. He said that illegal migration had dominated all the aspects of life in Assam and have caused turmoil and instability in the state politics for over four decades.
He said that the current implementation of NRC is an attempt to update 1951 NRC. He noted that before NRC, people used to guess the number of illegal migrants in the country. This practice fanned panic among people and led to violence. He said the implementation of NRC will have a substantial positive impact on the future geopolitics of the state.
“NRC, as it will finally emerge, is not a document of the moment – 19 lakhs or 40 lakhs is not the point. It is a base document for the future – kind of a reference document to determine future claims,” Gogoi added.
Gogoi also hit out on people using social media to cast aspersions on the NRC exercise. He blamed media channels for callous reporting to worsen the situation. The NRC has been prepared to identify genuine Indian citizens living in Assam since March 24, 1971, or before, and identify illegal Bangladesh migrants in the state.
The final NRC was published on August 31, and around 1.9 million were excluded from the Assam’s total 33 million residents. These 1.9 million people have been asked to prove their Indian citizens. The names not present in the final lists of NRC will have to reach out to the Foreigners’ Tribunals to prove their citizenship.
Also Read: Assam NRC List: 19 Lakh Including Kargil War Veteran Excluded
