Sarbananda Sonowal updates Rajnath Singh on NRC, says no compromise on territorial integrity

Sonowal apprised the Union home minister on the progress of compiling the National Register of Citizens.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the latter’s office in New Delhi and told him that Assam’s territorial integrity would not be compromised in view of any upcoming solution to the Naga problem based on the Framework Agreement the Centre and the NSCN(IM) had signed in August 2015.

“The chief minister said that territorial integrity of Assam would not be compromised in view of Naga Framework at any cost and the central government is committed to maintaining peace and harmony in the Northeast region. Assam’s map would not be tampered and dignity of the people of the state would be upheld,” a press release issued by the CM’s office here said.

It also said that Sonowal apprised the Union home minister on the progress of compiling the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and said that genuine Indian citizens had no reason to worry about being excluded from the document. “The state government is committed to preparing a flawless NRC which will not contain names of any illegal migrant,” Sonowal said.

Opposition parties as well as the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), an ally of the ruling BJP in the state have been expressing apprehensions that large tracts of land belonging to Assam would be included in the ‘Greater Nagalim’ demanded by NSCN(IM) as part of the proposed agreement that the Centre was likely to sign with the rebel group soon.

The Congress has accused the BJP and more particularly chief minister Sonowal of remaining mum on the issue of Assam’s territory getting included in ‘Greater Nagalim’ as demanded by the NSCN(IM). The BJP, however, has accused the Congress of letting Nagaland encroach upon hundreds of acres of Assam’s territory during several decades of its rule in the state.