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The ‘Us and Them’ Test
NAGAON, ASSAM A. Bhuyan: The
final NRC draft of Assam was made
public on July 30 amid apprehensions
of law and order problems. But the
mood in the entire state was largely
peaceful, though sombre as around
four million people have lost their
right to being Indian citizens. Certain
political parties are trying to poke this
looming yet hung tension with the int­
ent of exploiting the situation to their
benefit. The Congress and the TMC
are leading this brigade. The Congress
in Assam is speaking in different
tongues: while some seem to welcome
the process, others in the party appear
to protect the ‘illegal immigrants’.
Three-time CM of Assam Tarun Gogoi
has gone on record stating that the
number of illegal immigrants is minis­
cule. But the NRC process was being
monitored by the Supreme Court. Is
Mr Gogoi casting aspersion on the
workings of the SC then?
The TMC is leading the charge in
Parliament with party leader Mamata
Banerjee predicting a civil war in India
on the issue. What lengths leaders can
go to for political mileage!
GUWAHATI Ashim Kumar
Chakraborty: At last, the much
awaited and contested NRC exercise is
over. And it is nice to see the people of
Assam not behaving in an irresponsible
manner. The watchful eye of alm­ost
three lakh paramilitary troops dep­
loyed in not only sensitive areas, but
every nook and cranny of the state has
surely helped in keeping radical senti­
ments in check. The Supreme Court
and the whole NRC team des­erve
praise for pulling off this Herculean
task of separating the citizens from the
non-citizens. I would like to share my
own experience and knowledge regard­
ing the recently conducted NRC upgra­
dation process and the sincerity of the
of Congress rule in Assam, the issue of
immigration wasn’t taken up seriously.
They never paid heed to people’s griev­
ances and resentment and never tried
to resolve the ‘foreigner’ issue. The
NRC survey could have been done long
ago, when things were less compli­
cated. But if the BJP thinks that the
NRC will get them more votes in the
coming election, it would be a wrong
presumption. People are also aware of
RSS tactics and the BJP government’s
divisive strategy.
But Rahul!
NOIDA Bal Govind: Apropos of The
August 06, 2018
workers of NRC Seva Kendras. In the
first draft of NRC published on
December 31, 2017, eight members of
my family were left out. But, after state
and central governments’ clarification,
and after a second time verification of
documents, now we all have been suc­
cessful in including our names in the
final draft of the NRC. We feel much
better, and safe. Though the CM of
Assam has categorically denied reports
that people left out by the charter will
have more chances to prove their claim
for citizenship, it remains to be seen
what fate awaits them. Politicians like
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee are casti­
gating the NRC process saying that it is
going to displace Bengalis and Biharis
in the state. Such criticisms are nothing
but vote-bank politics. A citizen survey
was a must for Assam. It is also a must
for Bengal which has rep­orted similar
problems of illegal immigration, but
Mamata seems to be least bothered
about this real problem. During years
Ra Mo Superbowl? (August 6), as an
opp­osition party it is Congress’s basic
right to oppose the Modi government’s
anti-people policies. But to present
their case and ask for votes, Rahul
Gandhi and his party need to provide a
clear narrative of what he intends to do
that is different from what the Modi
government is doing. This is all the
more applicable to him since he does
not have a major win under his belt and
still has the image of a non-serious pol­
itical leader. His wink after surprising
Modi with a hug is the most recent
example. Yes, Modi and the BJP will
face anti­-incumbency sentiment in
2019, but that alone will not make Rahul
a winner. He needs to clearly spell out
his vision for India and tell the people
how his government will be different
from the UPA II regime.
Comic Blip
ON E-MAIL Geeta Doctor: You
i ­ ntroduce your diarist who wrote
Tarragona Diary (Aug 13) thus: “The
author is a playwright, journalist,
comic strip artist and writer.” I wonder
whether omitting the hyphen between
comic and strip might give your read­
ers the impression that the author is a
strip artist with a talent for comedy?
one-liner
BANGALORE Arif P.K.
Coming up post-2019 polls, National Nationalists Register—to smell out the anti-nationals.
12 OUTLOOK 20 August 2018