Guwahati, February 11: The NRC final list which was prepared through a seven year long massive exercise, costing about Rs 1600 crores of public money has ‘vanished’ from the website since last mid-January this year. For the past four weeks almost access to this data is unavailable. The final list of the NRC was published on August 31, 2019 under the Supreme Court monitoring.

In its verdict on August 13, 2019 the Supreme Court had said that, the list of final NRC should be preserved and protected as securely as the documents related to the Aadhar card; also that the list of inclusion and exclusion should be served to all applicants. The Supreme Court assigned this work to Register General of India (RGI) as well as Government of India, Government of Assam and the NRC state authority. After getting the exclusion list, any person excluded from final NRC had to be served the reason of his/ her exclusion and he/ she would then knock the door of Foreigners’ Tribunal against the order of NRC authority (within the stipulated 120 days).

Shockingly, five months after the date of publication of the final NRC, the reasons for exclusion have not been served to anyone who was excluded from final NRC. Likewise, no person of the state has been served the letter of exclusion or inclusion of his/ her name in NRC by the NRC authority of the state. In the same August 13 order, the Supreme Court had also directed the RGI, as well as Government of India, Government of Assam and NRC authority that hard copies of the List (NRC included or excluded person) should be kept in all Local Register for Citizen Registration (LRCR) offices, Citizen Register for Circle Registration (CRCR) offices, District Register for Citizens Registration (DRCR) and office of the State Coordinator, NRC, as also in compterised form on the website of the NRC for viewing of the general public. The NRC authority has simply failed to complete all these procedures in the past five months.

The RGI and state Coordinator, NRC in its joint public statement on August 31, 2019 declared that the final NRC will be available in all NRC Seva Kendras, all Circle offices and District Commissioner offices from 10 am today for public viewing. Any person who had submitted a re-claim application will able to view his/ her status of inclusion or exclusion in NRC website. The status of whole family was made available from September 14, 2019 according to the official communiqué of the NRC authority on September 10, 2019.  In accordance with these this dual declarations, the list of inclusion and exclusion were kept at the NSKs, Circle offices and DC offices and it was published on the NRC website on September 14, 2019.

The NRC authority has, to date, simply not issued any certified copy of inclusion and exclusion in accordance with the explicit directives of the Supreme Court of India. Though the status of inclusion and exclusion has been available on the NRC website since September 14, 2019, this has mysteriously become unavailable from the NRC website from the mid-January, 2019. In the meantime, in another questionable development, the NRC Assam authority has released all the contractual employees who were especially involved in technical works of NRC from January 31, 2020. The unavailability of NRC list from website has created much concern among the NRC included person in Assam. The general public has expended unimaginable resources, spent much time, wealth and labour to ensure inclusion of theirs names in the NRC list, in Assam, since 2013. The hard earned rights of the people are now missing from the database of the competent authority of NRC works in Assam.  

In a letter to NRC authority as well as RGI, the Leader of the opposition and Congress Legislator Debabrata Saikia alleged, “it is a mystery as to why the online data should be vanish all of a sudden, especially as the appeals process has not even started due to the go-slow attitude adopted by the NRC Authority. There is, therefore, ample scope of suspect that the disappearance of online data is a mala fide act. Indeed, the deletion of data from the NRC website at a time when the appeals process is yet to start, is prima facie and deliberate violation of the directive issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”   

It may be mentioned that the state of Assam, which is facing long term unrest in connection with foreigners issue, had expected that the publication of the NRC final list to be a near solution to this decade long trauma. The ground level situation of the state is such that educated youths cannot attend any interview for a government job if his/ her name is not in NRC. The selling and buying deed cannot be completed, if the name of a person is not in final NRC. The passport has not been issued to a person, whose name has not been included in final NRC. Not only the in government purposes but in respect of customary marriages, a bride or a groom does not marry anyone if other ones name is not in NRC.

Meanwhile, in a sinister bid to de-stabilise things further, leaders of the ruling party including some Ministers in Assam have been making loud public utterances stating that the NRC which was published on August 31, 2019 is not acceptable to them. The whole exercise has been monitored by the Supreme Court of India. Even the Supreme Court rejected the application, which was submitted before Supreme Court demanding re-verification of 20% of the NRC included persons in the bordering Districts of Assam. Given this background, the state government or the NRC authority is reluctant to allow the acceptance of the final NRC list which was published on August 31, 2019.

“The present NRC state Coordinator, Hitesh Dev Sharma who is known for his biased attitude is all set to diminish the entire work of NRC and it is due to his negligence and biased attitude the NRC list has become unavailable in website,” an insider in the NRC staff has alleged without disclosing his name. However, Hitesh Dev Sharma, the NRC state Coordinator, speaking to Sabrang India clarified that, ”the unavailability of NRC list from website is nothing but a technical issues. It will be resolved within three or four days.” He added, “I have taken charge of NRC office only by the end of December, 2019. The online data has been unavailable since 15^th December, 2019 as the contract with Wipro ended on October 19, 2019. On December 30, 2019, the meeting of the coordination committee was held and the meeting decided to renew the contract with Wipro. I have written to Wipro on February 8 and the issue will be resolved soon.” While Sabrang India, reminded the State coordinator NRC that online data was available even in first half of January, 2020, he said, “I have no information about it. May be it was an isolated case. What I have is the information that I have given you.”

Though, the NRC state coordinator has brushed off the sudden disappearance of the data as a technical issue, insiders in the NRC office are of the opinion that this is a deliberate ploy by the present NRC authority. Many people are of the opinion that even if the final NRC list becomes available in NRC website near future, there may be huge tampering and irregularities.

Meanwhile, citing Ministry of home affairs Govt of India, ANI reported that, “NRC data is safe and here is some technical issue in visibility on cloud. It is being resolved soon.”

Related Articles:

BJP’s Forked Tongues: NRC, Assam

BREAKING: NRC related fears claim one more life in Assam

How NRC further marginalises Transgender people

The Citizenship Crisis in Assam: Questions of D-Voter, NRC and proposed amendment to Citizenship Act: VIDEOS

National Register for Citizens Update in Assam: Issues of Concern

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Image Courtesy: Parismita Singh / https://www.huffingtonpost.in

Today, forty-one years later, in a much-changed India where an ultra-right government is firmly in the political saddle, the discourse has been twisted cleverly now to mean ‘foreigner’ and ‘infiltrator’. It is these peculiar and seemingly parochial preconditions that have to be factored in to understand how and why a wide consensus developed around the process of a ‘free and fair’ NRC. Terms like ‘genuine Indian citizens’ have now emerged to form an integral part of the wider humanitarian discourse within Assam. (Setalvad, Telegraph, July 22, 2019)

The process of finalisation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has been closely monitored by the SC since 2009. It actively began since 2013. Today, August 31, under this monitoring, the NRC Coordinator has declared the final list. What lies ahead for the 19,06,657 persons excluded? What is likely to be their plight in the coming months and what of their fate eventually?

At a hearing on July 23, 2019 this court monitored process was thrown open to groups working on the ground, for ‘suggestions.’ The Court, in its wisdom did not interfere with a flawed conclusion arrived at by the NRC Coordinator, Prateek Hajela. In a deeply problematic order, he had suggested the exclusions of countless persons born in India prior to June 30, 1987 on the ground that one parent of such person is either a “doubtful voter (DV)”, or a “declared foreigner (DF)”, or a “person whose claim for citizenship is pending before a Foreigner’s Tribunal (PFT)”. This was clearly violative of Section 3(1)(a) of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955.

These are persons who have lived in the country for several decades, and now, thanks to this, risk being declared stateless because of a deeply flawed process. Section 3(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 mandates that every person born in India between Republic Day 1950 and June 30, 1987 shall be a citizen of India by birth, yet the Coordinator, and thereafter, even the Supreme Court decreed that it would ‘exclude’ such persons despite the existence of Section 3. (Thus lakhs of persons born in this category, that is between 1950-1987, have been today excluded simply because one parent of such a person is either a “doubtful voter” or a declared foreigner” or a person whose claim is pending before a Foreigners Tribunal. This order was passed by the Supreme Court on August 13. The matter will now be finally decided by a Constitution Bench).  Initial reports suggest that, among 40-60 per cent of those excluded include those from such an abovementioned category whom the latest directives of the SC had signed a death knell to.

Appeals
Appeals of all the 19 lakh excluded will now have to be filed under the stipulated 120 days before the Foreigners Tribunals set up for the persons. To file such an appeal, each person will need to access a certified copy of the exclusion order and list of documents submitted by her or him to the NRC.  Will the deadline of 120 days start ticking after these documents are accessed as is just and fair? Clarifications are awaited.

Details of the modalities and nitty-gritties of filing the appeals are eagerly awaited. Of special concern will be the issue of areas of jurisdiction.  Of particular concern is where a victim of exclusion will have to go, which district of jurisdiction, and to which Foreigner Tribunal, to file her or his appeal. Through the NRC process, and the claims and corrections process, marginalised and unlettered sections of the population have been subject to inhuman procedural hassles, not least being sent to Nagrik Seva Kendras, sometimes 200-400 kilometres away! It took repeated complaints to the Supreme Court to get this issue somewhat clarified through an order of April 10, 2019. However, even during the ‘re-verification process’ this torture continued.

Discussions are rife in Assam about how de-centralised the locations of these FTs will be given the vast distances in the state. Already the state government is trying to overtly centralise the process by locating these tribunals in ‘six zonal areas’ of the state. All these logistical issues will remain crucial in the accessibility to justice for all those excluded.
 

Background

The background to this humanitarian crisis is complex. In Assam, there has been, apart from the NRC process, the ‘D’ voter process initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the mid-1990s. In 1997, more than 3 lakh people were marked as “doubtful voters” overnight, without even the pretence of any prior investigation whatsoever. (This is violative of judgments of both the Supreme Court of India and the Guwahati High Court, most especially Sarbananda Sonowal, 2007, Moslem Mondal. 2012 where fair investigation is emphasised as a pre-requisite for anyone being served such a notice).Some more ‘D Voters’ were added in later years. A study shows that a majority of those declared “doubtful voters” were women, some newly-wed. Some have subsequently been able to prove their citizenship, others not. However, many people marked as “doubtful voters” are still disenfranchised and have, to date, not received any notice from Foreigners Tribunal to prove their citizenship. The children of such persons, following the SC Order of August 13, 2019 (and in apparent violation of Section 3(1) (a) of the Citizenship Act, 1955), have now been excluded from the final NRC list.

What next?
As I have said above, all those excluded from the NRC list have to appear before the Foreigners Tribunals.  These Tribunals have already been in existence dealing with those cases of persons declared ‘D’ voters (by the Election Commission) or those ‘referral cases by the Assam Border Police’ who are ‘suspected foreigners’. We reported that, on July 19, 2019, in reply to an un-starred question No-3804, the minister of state of home affairs stated in the floor of Parliament that up to 31 March this year, 1.17 lakh people have been declared foreigners by the tribunal, 63,959 people have been declared foreigners by an ex parte order. Those who contested the case claimed themselves to be Indian, very often people are declared foreigners because of minor anomalies or variations in names, age and place of residence in documents. Any contradictory statement or not proving documents as per evidence law could cost them their citizenship.

Given the high human stakes involved and the balance of power against the marginalised and unlettered it is crucial that these tribunals function transparently, following acceptable and standardised processes of allowing appeals and evidence, precluding existing complaints of the sheer arbitrariness in their dealings. Open, fair and judicious trial is the fundamental guarantor of every citizen living under the rule of law, apart from being a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. India’s claim to these fundamentals will, once again be put to test in every case before the Foreigners Tribunal given that citizenship is the very basic of rights and to be arbitrarily being declared ‘non-Indian’ is akin to a ‘civil death’.

Exclusion, then Detention and Deportation?
In July this year, CJP undertook a rather depressing task. We compiled a list of citizenship and NRC related deaths in Assam: 60 people who had lost their lives and whose deaths are connected to citizenship related issues. Today the number is higher. This morning Sayera Begum jumped into a well around 8 am long before the list was published just on a rumour that she may not have made it to the list. Tragically, her family found that she actually had. While some of the others have allegedly committed suicide due to frustration, anxiety and helplessness related to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), some reportedly took their own lives fearing the deadly detention camps.

Although those excluded from the final NRC will not be detained immediately, the Sword of Damocles will be an ever-present peril. Once declared as “foreigner” by a Tribunal –whose functioning(s) have hitherto been marked by arbitrary and ad hoc functioning —he or she may be detained in such camps, with an intent to deport. There are already around 1,100 detainees in six detention centres across Assam. Reports of pathetic conditions abound. As of now, Assam has six detention camps. These operate out of makeshift facilities in prison compounds located in Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Silchar, Jorhat, Tezpur and Dibrugarh. There are also reports that new facilities have been planned in other parts of the state.

The government has admitted to 25 deaths within these camps between 2013 and now. Our film, Behind Shadows—Tales of Injustice from Assam’s Detention Camps makes for chilling viewing and the fear of detention has driven women and men to despair, and even death in the state. Only last year, on May 10, 2018, the SC has directed the release of those detenues who have completed more than three years in detention. While this order has rightly put an end to indefinite detention, questions around the initial three years of arbitrary confinement, remain.

On the contentious deportation issue, there is little clarity. The state of Assam in its affidavit before the Supreme Court in on-going matters filed in February 2019 admitted to only four declared foreigners being deported since 2013! On a recent visit to Dhaka, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar has even said that the NRC is India’s internal problem. To date, India has not spoken to Bangladesh about deporting “declared foreigners”.

Under these unclear political circumstances, will the option be indefinite detention? A person declared “foreigner” has of course the right to appeal, to the higher courts, also an onerous and resource consuming process. Detained, she or he is denied a dignified life, and also a dignified death.

At least 15 lakh plus cases will now be heard by Foreigners Tribunals (3,70.000 did not file for registration before the NRC.). The number is high and the limitation of 120 days may seem inappropriate and need extension. What is needed foremost is some clarity and commitment on the status of such persons who will be compelled to undergo a legal process, not just at the initial stage, in Foreigners Tribunal through their appeals but also, possibly, in subsequent appellate forums like the high court and the Supreme Court, even.

Will the state ensure their basic rights remain intact until then? Will political expediency not snatch these away as the media glare dies down?

The spectre of statelessness is what haunts the populace. Denied the right to a nationality by a state, stateless persons are particularly vulnerable to abuse. We have seen this with the Rohingyas. India has not signed either of these international proclamations that bind the signatory country to norms and procedure: the 1954 Convention on Status of Stateless Persons nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. However, as judgements of the higher courts have so far asserted, Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution apply to both citizens and non-citizens in India.

Two judgements are worthy of mention. In NHRC vs. State of Arunachal Pradesh, 1996, the Supreme Court has held that rights under Article 21 are as much available to non-citizens as to citizens, and to those whose citizenship is unknown. Or else, stateless persons are at the risk of being deprived of access to basic rights, including access to education, health care, employment, the right to buy or sell property, open bank accounts, or even get married.  In 1981, in Francis Coralie vs The Admn, Union Territory of Delhi, the Supreme Court has held that it is the fundamental right of everyone in this country to live with human dignity, free from exploitation.

Our Constitutional foundations and the fundamental freedoms guaranteed under Article 14 and 21 should be the guiding principles to mitigate the NRC and citizenship-related crisis affecting Assam, hereafter. The institutions created and the measures put in place to redress grievances of the 15 lakh plus excluded must pass this litmus test. Turmoil, trauma and a vicious targeting have dogged an otherwise consensual process for over four years in the state while the wounds have festered for decades. It is time the process forward is constructive and provides some healing.
 

Related:

Final NRC published in Assam
CJP in Assam: The evolution of our campaign to avert a humanitarian crisis
Citizens for Assam: A Quest for Hope and Justice
CJP trains paralegals to help Indians defend their citizenship
CJP moves SC to defend genuine Citizenship of people in Assam
CJP in Action: Additional Exclusion list released, our team swings into action in Assam
 

The post What next for those left out of the NRC? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
The press release issued by the NRC authorities may be read here:

In the press release, the authority traces the process of NRC Update was started in the state of Assam as per order of the Supreme Court of India in 2013.
 
“Since then, the Apex Court has been closely monitoring the entire process. The process of NRC update in Assam differs from the rest of the country and is governed by Rule 4A and the corresponding Schedule of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. These rules have been framed as per the cut-off date of 24th March (Midnight), 1971 decided as per Assam Accord.

“The process of receipt of NRC Application Forms started during the end of May 2015 and ended on 31st August 2015. A total of 3,30,27,661 members applied through 68,37,660 applications. The particulars submitted by the applicants were taken up for scrutiny to determine eligibility of their inclusion in NRC.  The exercise of NRC Update is a mammoth exercise involving around 52,000 State Government officials working for a prolonged period. All decisions of inclusion and exclusion are taken by these statutory officers.
 
“The entire process of NRC update has been meticulously carried out in an objective and transparent manner. Adequate opportunity of being heard has been given to all persons at every stage of the process. The entire process is conducted as per statutory provisions and due procedure followed at every stage.

“As per Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, Draft NRC (Complete Draft) was published on 30th July, 2018 wherein 2,89,83,677 numbers of persons were found eligible for inclusion. Thereafter, Claims were received from 36,26,630 numbers of persons against exclusions. Verification was also carried out of persons included in Draft NRC under Clause 4(3) of the Schedule of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. Objections were received against inclusion of 1,87,633 persons whose names had appeared in Complete Draft. Another Additional Draft Exclusions List was published on 26th June, 2019 wherein 1,02,462 persons were excluded.
 
“Taking into account all the persons already included and after disposal of all Claims and Objections and proceedings under Clause 4(3), it has been found that a total of 3,11,21,004 numbers of persons are found eligible for inclusion in Final NRC leaving out 19,06,657 numbers of persons including those who did not submit Claims.

“From 10 AM of today (31 August 2019) onward, the hard copies of the Supplementary List of Inclusions will be available for public view at NRC Seva Kendras (NSK), offices of the Deputy Commissioner and offices of the Circle Officer during office hours. The status of both inclusion and exclusion can be viewed online in the NRC website (www.nrcassam.nic.in).

Any person who is not satisfied with the outcome of the claims and objections can file appeal before the Foreigners Tribunals.”

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