NRC: Assam locals threaten mass immolation over exclusion of names

Nagaon: Over 8,000 villagers of Kampur area under Puthimari panchayat of Nagaon district in Assam have threatened to go for self-immolation in front of the office of the deputy commissioner if the authorities concerned fail to take steps to include their names in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

To register their protest, the villagers, whose names have been excluded from the final list of NRC published on August 31, burnt the effigy of NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela and shouted slogans to press for their demands on Thursday.

Despite submitting all valid documents, names of the villagers, majority of whom are from Hindu Bengali-speaking community, have been excluded from the final list of the NRC, some of the protesters alleged.

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“In many of the cases, father’s name was left out despite inclusion of son’s name in final NRC. Both the family members shared the same legacy data for inclusion of their names. How can this be possible?” a section of villagers alleged.

Pointing out that they have attended several hearings at different places as notified to them at their own expenses, the villagers said that they won’t visit any foreigners’ tribunal or court requesting for inclusion of their names in NRC in future. Rather, they would immolate themselves in front of the office of the DC, Nagaon, if the government fails to address their demand soon.

“Most of us are daily-wage workers and we don’t have enough money to fight a case. Moreover, we have already provided all legal documents to prove our nationality as asked by the authorities concerned. Now, we don’t want the same process to be repeated again,” expressed a villager.