NRC should not be a political issue – Former Assam CM Prafulla Kumar Mahanta

Pune, 13th August, 2018

From L to R – Dhrubjyoti Sarma, Yuvraj Shah, Abhay Chhajed, Dr. Sudhakar Jadhavar, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, founder director of Sarhad Sanjay Nahar, Shailesh Wadekar and Sanjeev Shah

“The BJP had promised to implement the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC). It is now gearing up to fulfill this promise. However, NRC is being pushed only for political gains,” Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, former Chief Minister of Assam said here today.

He was speaking at a function organized by Sarhad, Pune which included a public interview of Mahanta by Yuvraj Shah and Sriranjan Awate. Former Reader of the Commerce Dept. of the Savitribai Phule Pune University Dr. Sudhakar Jadhavar, AGP leader Dhrubjyoti Sarma, Abhay Chhajed, founder director of Sarhad Sanjay Nahar, trustee Shailesh Wadekar and coordinator Sanjeev Shah were present on the occasion.

Prafulla Kumar Mahanta’s interview : From L to R – Sriranjan Awate, Sudhakar Jadhavar, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Yuvraj Shah

Mahanta further said, “If this bill is passed, the Hindus coming from Bangladesh will get Indian citizenship but it will push the local population into minority. No country in the world awards its citizenship to migrants from other countries and Israel is the only country which gives its citizenship based on one’s faith. It is essential that political interests should not drive NRC. The NRC, besides violating the Assam Accord has no parallel within India. Migrants to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are not entertained in similar fashion, why is it happening only in case of Assam is a point to ponder.”

Mahanta added, “In the decade 1951 to 1961, the people who came to Assam were given the right to vote. After the 1965 war many more people came to Assam and settled here. They too were accommodated into the voters’ lists.

In 1971 Independent Bangladesh came into existence. That time also many people migrated to Assam and never went back. Now they have become normal citizens of India. It was said that those born before 1971 shall only be regarded as Indian citizens.

Even in the Assam Accord the point of preserving the cultural, social and linguistic identity of local Assamese was emphasized. And yet, what we see is things that are threatening the local population of Assam are happening. This is not correct. We must preserve the culture of Assam and its language.”

Mahanta also expressed freely his opinions on freedom of expression, the Indian judiciary system, demonetization and Assam as well as the Boro language in Assam.

Sanjay Nahar
Founder,President,
Sarhad
http://sanjaynahar.com/