Guwahati: The ministry of home affairs has decided to step up security measures in Assam before the publication of the draft National Register of Citizen (NRC) of the state. The police and security agencies are apprehending trouble in some parts of the state mainly because of the “misinformation campaign” launched by certain political parties and organisations and consequently, the state government decided to approach home ministry seeking deployment of more forces to avoid any untoward incident.
The Supreme Court of India has fixed up December 31 for publication of the draft of the updated National Register of Citizens in Assam.
Referring the misinformation campaign and rumours, spread by certain political parties and organisations in parts of the state about the National Register of Citizens, security sources said that a high-level meeting chaired by Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday reviewed the internal security scenario of the state in the run-up to the publication of the draft NRC.
The meeting was attended by Assam chief secretary Vinod Kumar Pipersenia, Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay, Home Commissioner and Secretary L Sweety Changsan, Addition DGP Pallab Bhattacharya, NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela, besides Register General of India (RGI) Srisailesh.
The root cause of the government’s fear is the possibility of the draft NRC excluding a large number of people belonging to a particular section. The government apprehends that certain political parties and vested interests might also indulge in a massive misinformation campaign to vitiate the atmosphere.
The problem started after NRC coordinator Mr Hajela, submitted a report to the Supreme Court stating that 17.40 lakh of the total 47.09 lakh applicants have been identified as original inhabitants of Assam, while the remaining 26.13 lakh applications are yet to be identified.
The organisations like Jamiat have raised serious objection to the affidavit of Mr Hajela to the apex court, which is monitoring process of NRC updating. The Jamiat has also asked that what was the basis of identifying the original inhabitants of Assam as definition of “original inhabitant” of Assam was yet to be finalized.
Security sources said that they have already identified certain sensitive pockets both in the Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys, while SPs of all districts have been alerted to keep a close watch. “The government has also sought a proactive role from the Registrar General of India to remove apprehensions from the minds of all sections of people,” security sources said while indicating that home ministry has agreed to increase the deployment of central forces in the state.
