Image Courtesy: cjp.org.in
 
Goswami has had to line up with his entire family at a hearing center in Barpeta Road after All Assam Student’s Union (AASU) workers filed objections against inclusion of his name in final draft of updated NRC. We spoke to him when he was waiting at the NRC Objection hearing center. He told us, “I am an indigenous Assamese. I was born and raised in Rampur village under Barnagar revenue circle of Barpeta erstwhile Kamrup District. The village Rampur never witnessed immigration. However, I wasn’t spared because my father’s name was recorded in my voter’s identity card as Dharmeswar Dev instead of Dharmeswar Dev Goswami.” This is not unheard of in Assam and several people have suffered because of incorrect names or spellings appearing in electoral rolls or voter identity cards.
 
Goswami is also the General Secretary of Forum for Social Harmony, a group that works actively to restore unity in Assam, a state that is being torn apart along communal and ethnic lines. He told us, “Though I am an Assamese by birth, they felt that Dharmeswar Dev must be a Bengali title as Goswami after Dev was omitted from my voter’s identity card.  Only for that reason one Dhanmoni Kakati and Rahul Sutradhar, who is also vice-president of the Barpeta local committee of AASU filed objections against inclusion of my name in the final draft of updated NRC.”

 
Har Kumar Goswami feels that this is an illegal objection. He says, “The objection filed against me is not a valid one. The state Co-ordinator, NRC, Prateek Hajela served a protocol for reconciliation to all District Register for Citizens Registration (DRCR) on January 2, 2019 to prevent harassment in the name of updating NRC. As per that protocol for reconciliation, the objectors must submit their name, proper address, ARN and phone number in the objection letter. But the objection filed by Dhanmoni Kakati and Rahul Sutradhar didn’t fulfil this criteria.  The addresses of Dhanmoni Kakati and Rahul Sutradhar were not cited properly in their objection form against me. Also, they didn’t recorded their ARN and phone number which they filed against me.”
 
Goswami also alleges “racial discrimination” given how the objection was based on his father’s name that is considered to belong to a person from the Bengali speaking community, who are perceived to be ethnically distinct from the Assamese speaking community. He also worries about the deteriorating economy of Assam and the mounting financial burdens borne by some of the most socio-economically weak people. Goswami says, “I had to use two different vehicles and travel over 100 kilometers to attend this hearing with my family. Imagine how poor people are faring. The economy has come to a stand-still as people are forced to stop working when they have to stand in queue for such hearings!”
 
He also mentioned seeing a black cat commando who Goswami says was an official with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s security detail. Goswami says, “He had come from UP. He said that he wanted to file defamation and criminal case against the objectors.  But as their address is not declared in the objection form, he will file defamation and criminal case against the NRC officials who are responsible for accepting such invalid objection.” 
 
Har Kumar Goswami is only one of the two lakh people against whom objections have been filed by chauvinist forces in Assam. The final NRC is expected to be published by July 31 in accordance with the Supreme Court’s order in the matter.
 

The post NRC Objections: Objectors’ details missing, well known people targeted in Assam appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: https://cjp.org.in/

Earlier this year when the NRC final draft was released in July, 40,07,707 people had not been included in the list. The process of Claims and Objections that finally began on September 25, after many hurdles and false starts, allowed the excluded people one last chance to apply for the inclusion of their names in the list. But there were several concerns regarding the process itself; the modalities, scope for bribery and corruption as well as the possibility of completing it on time.

Moreover, people were also allowed to file objections to the inclusion of names of people who they thought were ‘foreigners’. Anyone could file an objection against anyone! Thus, even if a person was fortunate to find their name on the list, there was a very real possibility that it may not be permanent. 

The original December 15 deadline was extended to the end of the year. According to NRC authorities, as of December 31, 2018, 31.2 lakh people had filed their claim applications at the 2,500 Nagrik Seva Kendras (NSKs) across the state of Assam. However, 2.6 lakh objections had also been filed until this date, the massive spike coming in virtually on the last day! It is alleged that the spike was due to the involvement of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) that has been at the forefront of the movement against ‘outsiders’ and ‘foreigners’.

AASU adivor Samujjal Bhattacharya was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying, “AASU and other indigenous groups had extended support to people filing claims since the over 40 lakh people excluded from NRC draft had indigenous people and Hindus and Muslims have come prior to March 25, 1971 deadline. Similarly, we have also helped people who wanted to file objections. We want a Bangladeshi-free NRC.”

According to authorities, maximum number of objections have been filed in Barpeta, Nagaon and Morigaon.

Meanwhile, the process of corrections has started on January 2. People who find that their names have been entered incorrectly can apply for correction both online and at NSKs based on their convenience. This process will continue till January 31, 2019 and according to the NRC authorities, this is independent of the Claims and Objections process.

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