Assam fears trouble as NRC's deadline nears

Guwahati: With the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in its final stage, vested interest groups are alleged to have been working overtime in the state to create problem to disrupt the process.

Pointing out as to how some organisations have started issuing provocative statements questioning the process of updating the NRC under the active supervision nof the Supreme Court, security sources said that problem of the state police force has compounded more as sizeable number of paramilitary forces have been withdrawn from the state for election process. More than 100 companies of Central forces have already been withdrawn from Assam after the elections, as forces were required to be deployed in other parts of the country for the election duty.

According to intelligence inputs received by the police and security agencies, some organisations are desperate to scuttle the process or at least to delay it by creating disturbances in the state.

Sources said that the officials engaged in the process have been receiving demands that the names and addresses of the persons who filed objections should be made public. There have been instances where the persons who filed objections were called up and threatened.

“It is a serious matter as the names and phone numbers of persons who filed objections should not have been made public. But it is a fact that a number of such persons received calls and they are apprehensive of attending the hearings,” a source said.

Indicating that fear of such elements targeting the officers and employees engaged in the process of hearing of the claims and objections is also loominmg large, security sources however said that the hearing centres have been classified as per their vulnerability and attempts are being made to provide security cover accordingly. Security sources admitted that it is not possible to provide security cover to all the officers and government employees engaged in the process and only the security of the centres set up for hearing of claims and objections has been augmented.

Security sources asserted that law and order problem in any part of the state may slow down the process and said that all district police forces have been directed to remain alert. Several rounds of alerts have been issued to the district police forces from Dispur, police headquarter and the special branch to keep a close watch on the situation and identify the potential trouble mongers.

Some unscrupulous elements are also using the social media to spread campaign against the update process of NRC and also to spread communal hate campaigns.

All out efforts are made to keep watch on the social media to so that action can be taken against such elements.

Meanwhile, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has asked the NRC authorities to put to strict scrutiny each and every document concerning citizenship of the applicants during the ongoing verification process.

The students body in a letter to Assam chief minister also alleged that some families of persons who had filed objections against the citizenship claims of certain individuals were being subjected to severe intimidation. “This is very disturbing and we urge the chief minister to initiate immediate and effective measures to check it,” it said.