To what end this exercise? (NRC exercise, Assam 2018)

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To what end this exercise? (NRC exercise, Assam 2018)

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• A Supreme Court mandated problem! The present NRC Assam crisis is the direct result of the Supreme Court’s intervention and setting of a deadline. Despite soothing assurances by SC and political parties, the situation on ground is akin to a crisis.
• PIL by Assam Public Works: It sought removal of illegal voters from the electoral rolls, and NRC preparation as sought by the Citizenship Act, 1955 and its rules. The Assam Accord 1985 also had NRC as an objective.
• The first, faulty NRC and 2003 rules: The original 1951 NRC was considered faulty (why?) and the fresh NRC was to be made as per 2003 rules. Since 2013, as the S.C. ordered speeding up of NRC process, the first deadline of Jan 2016 was missed. The July 31, 2018 deadline for final draft was met.
• Citizenship is a legal fiction: It is given or taken away under some procedure of law, and the S.C. mandated process raised hopes that fairness and transparency would be respected. That has not happened.
• Why not?  Huge errors have happened.

1. Family tree verification process :  this is a non-transparent process 
2. Gram Panchayat certificates rejected : this is arbitrary, and has affected mostly women

• Parents in, Children out! The family tree process has led to many cases where children are out but parents are in. How can that happen? More than 45 lac people saw the Panchayat Certificates rejected. This is what the SC had hoped would not happen
• Background of rejection of Panchayat Certificates: The Manowara Bewa v. Union of India case 2017 saw the Gauhati HC rejecting that certificate as the basis of inclusion in NRC. Many women used that to establish their marital relations. It was in Dec.2017 that the S.C. ordered that those were valid, but remanded the case back to Gauhati High Court, thereby extending that process.
• Correctness or Deadline? The SC overlooked the confusions caused by above. And the final question is still unanswered – why are you having this exercise done? What will you do after it?
• Elimination from the voter list: That is sure to happen with the final names of illegals, and the PIL would be settled. But finally, what is the last point of action going to be? (the July 31 hearing said nothing of it) 

1. Crude “push them out” action? 
2. Will the SC protect the stateless and defenceless? 
3. Take the Pontius Pilate option and wash its hands off?   CONCEPT

• Indian national freedom struggle: It was not based on any ethnic or racial basis, and hence the Constituent Assembly very carefully brought in Article 5 for citizenship provisions, after many iterations. If we now degenerate into another humanitarian crisis, it would be quite a shame.
• Summary : The Supreme Court has started the NRC Assam process whose conclusion is unclear to everyone, and even the top court is not willing to comment over the fate of those rendered stateless and defenceless.

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