Experts at national seminar stress on implementing NRC all over India to restrain the illegal migrants settling down in any other part of the country
New Delhi: Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, in association with the Himalayan University, organised a seminar on “NRC: Defending Borders, Securing Culture” on September 10. The seminar was attended by more than 400 people from various fields.
From left Shri Samudra Gupta Kashyap, Shri Sarbnanda Sonowal, Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Shri Ram Madhav, Shri Abhijit Majumdar and Shri Hemant Goel at the seminar
The seminar began with a thought-provoking note on National Register of Citizenship (NRC) senior journalist Samudra Gupta Kashyap through historical excursion of ‘illegal migrants’ over the territory of Assam. He explained that the issue of illegal migrants began right from the Moghul’s attack over the territory of India, including Assam. He also discussed the significant role of All Assam Student Union (AASU) against illegal migration (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 (IMDT).
Editor of ‘My Nation’ Abhijit Majumder elucidated that NRC should be implemented not only in the state of Assam rather it should be implemented in other states to restrain the illegal migration. NRC is the righteous way to classify the citizenship between bona fide citizens and foreigners. Also, he recalled West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s sneaky statements over NRC. He firmly believed that ‘it should be mandatory, nowadays, about to whom we need to give citizenship’.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said India needs a ‘stiff’ immigration policy to tackle illegal migration. He believed that this large-scale migration has threatened the identity of Assamese and other natives of the country. In support of his arguments, he said that ‘in 70 years between 1901 and 1971, Assam’s population increased from 32.90 lakh to 146 lakh, which is 343.77 per cent increase over a period when the population of India increased by only about 150 per cent and this is clearly the result of illegal migration’. He said it is imperative to upgrade the NRC in the entire nation in order to ensure that migrants from Assam do not find shelter in any other part of the country. He supported the idea of ‘smart fence’ project which has been rolled out in Assam on a riverine stretch with Bangladesh. he further said Indian Citizens will, after NRC, get an adequate amount of opportunities once they get registered under the norms of NRC. Henceforth, the Citizenship Rules provide that anyone who is not satisfied with the outcomes of NRC Draft can appeal in the Foreigner’s Tribunal. Thus, this will end all the legislative rumours after the publication of NRC, he added.
Shri Ram Madhav said the idea of NRC is to restrain the ‘illegal migration’ over the territory of Assam and other states. NRC which is prepared by the Assam Government under the supervision of the Supreme Court of India is empirical, unbiased and transparent. Further, he outlined clause 6 of Assam Accord in which it is clearly mentioned to save cultural, social, political, linguistic and other identities.
Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said the problem of infiltration has spread across the country. They are not (re)settled in the reserve forest of Kaziranga but in the forest, hills and also in plains all over the country. He said the issue is of great concern to national security. “We all are with the Assam Government,” he added.
