Former legislator Ataur Rahman Mazarbhuiya, pushing 70, was more puzzled than angry when he found his name among 40,07,707 people who did not make it to the complete NRC draft published on Monday.
“How this has happened beats me. My wife and children are in the draft, but the head of the family is not,” said the former All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA for Katigorah constituency in southern Assam.
The AIUDF’s legislator from Abhayapur South constituency, Ananta Kumar Malo, has also not found his name in the draft. “There must have been something wrong somewhere,” he said.
Fugitive ULFA-Independent chief Paresh Baruah is in the complete draft, but his wife is not. All other members of his family based in Jerai Chokolibhoria village in eastern Assam are included.
Also missing from the citizens’ list is BJP legislator Rama Kanta Deuri and members of his family. “My name does not figure because I did not apply. As a tribal (Tiwa) and an original inhabitant, I will not apply under any circumstances,” the Morigaon MLA said.
Mohammed Nurul Islam of Kalgachia in Barpeta district of western Assam, who ironically is an investigating officer for the NRC, knew he would be out. “All my siblings and their families are listed. My wife is in too, but my three children and I are missing because I had been marked a D-voter,” he said.
Mr. Islam will file for claims and objections after pursuing his case in Foreigners’ Tribunal number 8 in Barpeta.
“Before that, I will file a case against the people who identified me as a D-voter,” he told The Hindu.
On the flip side, some people marked D-voters and later declared foreigners figured in the NRC draft. The Bengali-dominated Barak Valley had been more apprehensive about being ‘victimised’. Officials said the number of people left out in the valley’s three districts, Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj, is 2,28,765, 1,12,109 and 54,560 respectively. The NRC inclusion rate for these districts is 88%, 90% and 85% respectively.