GUWAHATI: Union home minister, Rajnath Singh has asked the Assam government to ensure that law and order is maintained and no one should be allowed to take law into their hands in the run-up to and after publication of the complete NRC draft, an official statement issued here said.
Singh chaired a meeting with chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal at his official residence in New Delhi on Sunday. Talking to the reporters after the meeting, Sonowal said that the complete draft NRC comprising names of all eligible applicants would be published on July 30.
He however, made it eloquently clear that the applicants who do not find their names in the complete NRC need not be apprehensive as they would be given adequate opportunity to prove their eligibility for inclusion in the final NRC.
Sonowal said that there should not be any apprehension or misgivings among the genuine Indian citizens after the publication of the draft NRC as all the applicants whose names have not been figured in the draft NRC will get chance to submit their claims in the prescribed form.
Sonowal also appealed to the people to stay away from passing any comment that is likely to vitiate the communal fabric of the state.
He also said that after the publication of the first draft NRC on December 31, 2017, people from Barak, Brahmaputra, hills and plains showed adequate maturity and therefore, peace was not disturbed in the state.
“Therefore, I urge people of the state to show the same maturity and restraint this time around to maintain peace and order in the state,” Sonowal said.
He further said that under the supervision of the Supreme Court of India, the Registrar General of India and state coordinator of NRC looked after the update process of the NRC and the central and state governments have rendered support in the whole process.
The chief minister also said that central and state governments have been showing complete sincerity and giving all kinds of support for the preparation of a complete and flawless NRC..
Union minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju, Assam minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, home secretary, Rajiv Gauba, Registrar General of India Sailesh, Assam chief secretary TY Das, Assam DGP, Kuladhar Saikia, senior officers of the home Department of state were present at the meeting.