Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, has stoked controversy by stating that Assam will burn, there will be killings and retaliation if 50 lakh Muslims are left out in the ongoing Supreme Court-monitored updation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) 1951.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary of the Government of Assam after taking suo motu cognizance of the allegations about the harassment being meted out to people by the police in the name of verification of their nationality in the State.
Recently, at a programme in New Delhi Madani had said, “There is an attempt to leave those Muslims who have been here for more than 400 years out of the NRC process. If 50 lakh people are left out there will be killing, there will be retaliation, the state will burn.”
“Assam will face a Myanmar-like situation,” Madani added.
Several organisations have registered bitter protests against Madani’s remarks. Three FIRs have been filed in different places of the state alleging that Madani is trying to incite communal tension.
Several organisations have registered bitter protests against Madani’s remarks. Three FIRs have been filed in different places of the state alleging that Madani is trying to incite communal tension.
The All Assam Students Union (Aasu), the state’s premier student body, said Madani must desist from making such comments.
AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath and general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, “When the State is finally marching towards getting an error-free NRC for the solution of the long-pending illegal migration issue, people like Madani are trying to give it a communal colour. That can never be accepted.”
Regional party Asom Gana Parishad questioned the intention of Madani for commenting that Assam will become another Myanmar.
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal recently updated Union Home minister Rajnath Singh about the progress of the NRC updation process. He has already issued a warning that anyone opposing the NRC updation process would be considered anti-national.
The draft of the NRC was scheduled to be published in December this year. The original deadline, however, seems increasingly untenable now because the authorities have yet to come to a final decision on as many as 1.23 applications. The Supreme Court has already been informed about the unlikelihood of meeting the December deadline.
The updated NRC is expected to weed out illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from Assam. Assam NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela has filed a status report where he submitted that there were 3.21 crore applications of which around two crore have been verified.
The Assam Government has set up Foreigners’ Tribunals to deal with doubtful cases.
Due to illegal immigration from Bangladesh, people belonging to Bengali origin have been under the scanner for years, NHRC said.
It said that steps taken to identify suspect cases and setting up of Foreigners’ Tribunals were policy matters and that it would not like to intervene there. The Commission, however, added that the alleged harassment and humiliation in the name of verification was a matter of concern as it amounts to violation of right to equality and dignity.
NHRC pointed out a specific case of one Moinal Molla from media reports. His parents, wife, children, brother and rest of the family are Indians and still his citizenship was rejected by the authorities. He spent more than two years at a detention centre. It was only after the intervention by the Apex Court that justice was done in his case.
According to NHRC, there were 89,395 people considered to be illegal immigrants in Assam till August, 2017. It says there currently are more than 2,000 people languishing in detention centers across the State, who are allegedly being subjected to discrimination.
Courtesy: Economic Times
