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NRC exercise only to update 1951 list: CJI
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- Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said on Sunday that the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, meant to identify illegal migrants residing in the border State, was “neither a new or novel idea” but only an attempt to update the 1951 list.
More in news
- Chief Justice Gogoi addressed at the release of journalist Mrinal Talukdar’s book, Post Colonial Assam (1947 to 2019):
- CJI Gogoi, headed the Special Bench of SC that monitored the process of NRC. Court’s intervention led to the publication of final citizenship list on Aug 31.
- NRC 2019:
(1) Final NRC List excluded over 19 lakh of 3.29 crore applicants who face uncertain days ahead, trying to prove their Indian citizenship through appeals filed in foreigners’ tribunals.
(2) NRC is not a document of the moment but a base document for the future to determine future claims.
(3) NRC had attempted to put an end to the enormous amount of “guesswork which fuelled panic”, about illegal immigration.
(4) Current NRC is an attempt to update the 1951 NRC. Nothing more nothing less
(5) The final NRC list was “not without contestations”. But, the “idea of NRC was neither new nor a novel idea and had found expression as early as 1951”.
- Role of Media:
(1) Callous reporting by few media worsened the situation.
(2) Emergence of social media and tools had fuelled “double speaking commentators who presented distorted picture.
- Cut Off Date Of NRC Update:
(1) Some sections in Assam objected 1971 being the cutoff date and insist on 1951 to detect illegal foreigners in the State.
- State of Assam:
(1) Assam is the meeting place of many races & ethnic groups, each contributing to it’s rich tapestry of cultures, languages.
(2) While the children of Assam have made their mark, the State itself suffered from agrarian strikes, natural calamities like persistent floods and widespread agitations & frequent violence deeply impacting socio-political life.
Sources
The Hindu