The preamble of the Indian constitution lays down the aspirational vision for the country and the philosophy of the makers of the document. But, are we though? The final list of this register was published in mid-September, and around 19 lakh people were left out from the list.
The implementation of the NRC has been condemned for its human rights violations, disregard of the separation of powers principle, lack of clarity regarding the action to be taken by the State on those who become stateless, etc.
A very subtle issue that underlies this procedure is the age-old communal issue of Hindus v. I will argue that the current Government is using the NRC as a project of ethnic cleansing to further its Hindu nationalistic goals, i. There is strong evidence to suggest that Muslims, especially the Bengali Muslims, who arrived in Assam during partition and after that, have always been other-ed by the native Assamese population.
In , around 1, Muslims unofficial figures are as high as 3, were brutally murdered by an armed mob that surrounded several Muslim-dominated villages. Several such anti-Muslim attacks have taken place since then, the latest one being in There is a certain normalization of this kind of violence in Assam, where the perpetrators are neither held responsible nor punished. This sentiment of equating only Muslims with illegal immigration, by conveniently leaving out the Hindus, has been shared by the current government along with the Assamese population.
However, as soon as the final list was published, it was found that the majority of the 19 lakh individuals who were left out of the list were Hindus. This obviously caused anxiety among the ruling party members. They began assuring the individuals left out that they would not have to worry, as they would be given reasonable time and opportunity to present their cases.
