GUWAHATI: Despite repeated disclaimers that the
National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a work in progress, members of the minority community in the state have not been able to rest easy. Faced with the prospect of either not making it to the NRC or continuing to live with the "
illegal migrant" stereotype even if they do, all they can now is wait and hope.
"My family and I passed another test of citizenship. This, I am hopeful, is the last test I had to appear to prove my citizenship," Mazedur Rahman, 50, a social activist from the Muslim-majority Barpeta district in lower
Assam, said.
Rahman has been working for the rights of the marginalized Muslim community in lower Assam for decades. To him, the challenge the community faces is not so much proof of citizenship as the stereotypes it has to live with. "Will the inclusion of Muslims in the NRC free them of the Bangladeshi tag? The problem that persists is that of perception. Despite being genuine citizens, most members of the community have faced the stigma of being branded Bangladeshi," Rahman said.
The pattern the NRC update process has followed does not help assuage such fears. Verification has been much slower in the minority-dominated districts of the
Barak Valley, central and lower Assam, with just 44% names from Nagaon in central Assam and 39% from Barpeta in lower Assam making the cut. Authorities have attributed this to the problem of "influx" in these regions, which has slowed down the verification process since a more rigorous process of scrutiny needs to be followed.
In contrast, 90% of applicants from the Assamese-majority districts of upper Assam found place in the first draft, much higher than the state average of 57%.
"My name was not there in the first draft. I know my name and that of many others will find place in the next draft because we are genuine citizens. For years, we have gone through the suffering of being looked down upon as Bangladeshis. We are restless to clear this hurdle and see our names on the citizenship list, ending the debate once and for all," a Muslim farmer from
Guinelguri village in Barpeta, who did not want to be named, said.
For economically disadvantaged sections, already at the intersection of various forms of marginalization, the challenge is even greater.
Kathmandu-based human rights activist Anjuman Ara Begum, who has family in Assam, said the NRC should not end up widening fissures. "Members of the Muslim community from economically disadvantaged sections are most vulnerable. If the 'Bangladeshi' stigma persists even after their names are included in the NRC, it will be a new challenge for the community. That should not be allowed to happen," she added.
The state government and NRC authorities have been reiterating that people whose names did not figure in the first draft need not panic as no genuine Indian citizens will be left out in the updated NRC.
