Prafulla Kumar Mahanta blames Centre for delay in process

Guwahati: Former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who was the signatory of the Assam Accord, on Monday said that the government of India while signing the Assam Accord in 1985 had assured to update the National register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951 but failed to take any follow up action.

Asserting that now the Government of India must take up the issue of deportation of Bangladeshi nationals with its counterpart in Dhaka, Mr Mahanta said that demand for updating the NRC of 1951 was first raised by All Assam Students Union in a letter to the Prime Minister on January 18, 1980. Mr Mahanta, who himself as the president of AASU had signed the letter, said that again on February 2, 1980, the AASU submitted a memorandum to the PM, in which the demand for updating the NRC was raised again. Mr Mahanta said that the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) came to power in the later part of 1985 and in the following year, efforts were made to start the process of updating the NRC.

However, central government remained ignorant to their demand. Some organisations of the state also opposed the demand of updating the NRC.

Reiterating that there have been forces within the state, which was opposing the process of updating the NRC, Mr Mahanta however said that it would not be possible to solve the problem of infiltration of foreigners till the Government of India forcefully takes up the issue with the Government of Bangladesh. He also pointed out that the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal ministry for the implementation of the Assam Accord and without active cooperation of the Centre, it is not possible for the state government to deal with the problem. (EOM)

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