National Register of Citizens (NRC) has remained incomplete in Assam and justice needed to be done to Hindus living in the Barak Valley region, BJP minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Karimganj on Thursday. He blamed former coordinator Prateek Hajela for this NRC exercise remaining incomplete.
Assam’s NRC had excluded 19.22 lakh people out of 3.3 crore applicants, many Hindus among them. “Thousands who believe in Maa Bharati are still languishing in detention camps,” he said.
The BJP had criticised the NRC list, alleging that many genuine citizens, especially refugees who came in before 1971, got left out. BJP MLA Silditya Dev had alleged at one time that the list was a “conspiracy to keep Hindus out and help Muslims”.
New coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma told the Guwahati High Court earlier this month that NRC may have included 2.77 lakh “undeserving” names, blaming it on poor quality check and control systems. Some activists and lawyers said this was an attempt to reopen the Assam NRC.
Referring to the assembly elections due in next six months, the Assam minister said that the BJP will be the winner. “The 2021 election for us is a fight to protect civilisation. Till now, we have been victorious in saving our civilisation. We will fight All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal democratically and ensure that he is chased out,” Sarma said.