Assam’s NRC cannot be the definitive document to prove citizenship | The Indian Express

Assam’s NRC cannot be the definitive document to prove citizenship | The Indian Express

Written by Mitra Phukan |Updated: September 4, 2019 10:22:07 am

Phukan is a novelist from Assam.

Assam’s NRC cannot be the definitive document to prove citizenship

At most, it can provide a base from which to move forward, with humane practicality.

People check names in the final list at an NRC centre in Guwahati.

On August 31, the final National Register of Citizens, excluding 19,06,657 people from the 3,30,27,661 who had applied, was released in Guwahati. This was a controversial document, much anticipated and dreaded in Assam for the past few years, ever since work on updating the NRC of 1951 started in 2013. The 19 lakh have been given another 120 days to submit documentary proof to the Foreigners’ Tribunals.