SHILLONG: Many tribal and non-tribal women from Meghalaya, married in Assam, were left out from the NRC list.
Confirming this, Rajabala legislator Azad Zaman alleged that the whimsical and insensitive step by Assam government made the indigenous and bonafide Indian citizens stateless overnight.
According to Zaman, earlier when the draft NRC was published, it was found that documents submitted by Meghalaya women were rejected.
“When this issue was taken up, there was reportedly a meeting between Meghalaya and Assam governments. And as a result, it was decided that if the documents submitted by Meghalaya women are verified and countersigned by appropriate authority of Meghalaya government, those documents would be accepted”, Zaman said in a statement on Sunday.
Accordingly, the women submitted documents to Meghalaya government for verification.
After verification, the documents were countersigned by Meghalaya police.
“However, it is outrageous that Assam government rejected even those verified documents and made the indigenous Indian women as deemed foreigners”, Zaman said.
The Congress leader said Assam government has given 120 days for the women to prove citizenship in the Foreigners Tribunal (FT).
“It is very likely that FT, which is infamous for whims and fancies, will not accept the same set of documents, which means these Meghalaya women will be declared out rightly foreigners and will be sent to detention camps which are criticised by many as Nazi concentration camps”, Zaman said.
The Rajabala legislator alleged that it is unfortunate that due to callous attitude of Meghalaya government and insensitivity of Assam government, the fate of Meghalaya women is in danger.
“They will be foreigners in their own country. Hence, I request Meghalaya government to ask its counterpart to submit the list of Meghalaya women who had already submitted NRC/documents verified by Meghalaya government”, he said. Another suggestion of the MLA is that the applicants can withdraw their names and Meghalaya can update their names when NRC will be implemented in Meghalaya.
Zaman also said Meghalaya government can file an affidavit in Supreme Court as NRC is being updated under court’s supervision so that a special hearing can be held for Meghalaya women.
“There can be specific directives to NRC authority which can ensure inclusion of their names based on the documents issued and verified by Meghalaya government”, he said.
Zaman also said Meghalaya government can talk to Assam government and all appeals of Meghalaya women can be heard in a single FT designated for Meghalaya applicants.
“Meghalaya government can also provide help to the women by deputing special officers and legal experts”, he added.
GSU to take up exclusion issue with NESO
The Garo Students’ Union has decided to take up the issue of exclusion of indigenous people from Meghalaya, who are residents of Assam, from the NRC with the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) so that they are not harassed.
Some of the elderly people got left out because they did not have proper documents.
When contacted, the GSU president Tengsak Gabil Momin said the indigenous people must not be harassed due to the NRC exercise.
“Local people, particularly the elderly, do not take care of their documents and there could be a problem in that regard as they might not be able to produce any documents,” he said.
The GSU leader said the exclusion of indigenous people from the NRC must be looked into.
