The Supreme Court has directed the state coordinator of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to ensure that the process of disposing claims and objections is conducted with utmost care and precision. This direction was made in wake of a series of media reports citing critical missteps and loopholes in the process.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi reportedly said, “There are disturbing reports in the media and media is not always incorrect.” The court also reportedly added,“There is a deadline and timeframe but that doesn’t mean that the officers cut short and just complete the process only to complete it. Merely disposing of 70 percent claims till today is not good unless the disposal is properly done. Please ensure that.”
As far as the Claims and Objections process is concerned, we had broken the story of how people were being forced to file false objection applications. We had also reported earlier today on how a Kargil war veteran, who had dedicated 30 years of service to the nation, was declared a foreigner and sent to a detention camp, showing how the wider process of ascertaining the citizenship of people was flawed and required urgent checks and balances.
There have been several other similar shocking instances of families of prominent citizens being harassed such as when the citizenship of the family of former Indian President FA Ahmed was questioned. The family of Maulvi Mohammed Amiruddin who was the deputy speaker of the Assam Assembly and even the family of Puran Bahadur Chetry who served in the Azad Hind Fauj and fought for India’s independence were similarly harassed.