Assures protection of ‘excluded’ against harassment
GUWAHATI: In view of the final publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be published as per the direction of the Supreme Court of India on August 31, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal urged upon the people of Assam to maintain peace and tranquillity in the state.
In a statement here on Friday, Chief Minister Sonowal said that the NRC,which has been updated by the State NRC Coordinator and his team under the monitoring of the Supreme Court of India and supervision of the Registrar General of India, is an outcome of the untiring efforts of the thousands of people. He also expressed his gratitude to the people of Assam for their unconditional support which has yielded into the updating the NRC.
At the same time, he appealed to those people whose names would have been excluded from proposed NRC, to remain calm as they would get opportunity to file their appeal and be heard in the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT)as per the direction of the Union Home Ministry.
He also said the fact that extension of filing an appeal from 60 days to 120 days to the FT, would help all the excluded persons to enjoy a level playing field. He also said that Government of Assam would take care of the cause of the excluded people and due care will be taken so that no body is subjected to any unnecessary harassment.
He also maintained that as long as appellant’s plea remains sub-judice with the Foreigner’s Tribunal, he or she cannot be treated as foreigner. He, therefore, appealed to the people of the state belonging to Barak, Brahmaputra, hills and plains to maintain peace and set an example of a matured society.