Ahead of the Supreme Court's deadline of August 31, for publication of the final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC), both relief and anxiety grip the people of Assam. After a long and arduous battle of 34 years and 16 days, the NRC is a long standing demand of the people Assam and it is finally about to come true. Under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court, the NRC took over five years to compile and cost a staggering Rs 1,200 crore. Containing names of all "genuine" Indian citizens, the register is expected to solve the long-standing foreigner problem in Assam by identifying illegal migrants and putting a cap on further inflow into the state. 

A wait of 34 years- All About the National Register of Citizens

What is the NRC? 

The NRC, first prepared in 1951 by Census of India, is a register containing the names of all genuine Indian citizens. It was updated in Assam to include the names of those featured in the first NRC of 1951 and their descendant ​​​​​​, or anyone else whose names appear in the Electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971. The NRC is an outcome of the All Assam Students' Union's (AASU) relentless demand for removing the names of all illegal migrants from the Electoral Rolls in 1979, after a series of protests. The meticulous documentation process began in 2013, despite a pilot study being first initiated in 2010 in Barpeta district. In 2013, a special Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Rohinton Fali Nariman ordered the State Government machinery under the Registrar General of India to update the census. The project headed by Prateek Hajela, State Coordinator for NRC affairs, was also appointed by the Supreme Court. 

Why is the NRC being updated in Assam? 

Zan, Zar, Zameen: A short history of nearly everything you need to know about the NRC

Assam has been the worst victim of demographic change in the post-colonial period. The process, however, started as early as the 18th and 19th Century and continues till date. This demographic change is primarily due to migration, or illegal immigration as referred now, from then Bengal, which became East Pakistan after independence and subsequently Bangladesh since March 26, 1971. Initially migration was mainly because of shifting cultivation, but towards the latter part of the 19th century and in the first quarter of the 20th century, state-sponsored migration took place under the British administration. This disrupted the demographic equation, but it further deteriorated after partition in 1947. The creation of East Pakistan and also the move of some Muslim League leaders to annex Assam in East Pakistan, led to large scale migration from both sides. Many Hindus living in East Pakistan came to India and many Muslim families went back, but only temporarily.

As atrocities of West Pakistan increased in the region, the Muslims who lived in Islamabad and Lahore allegedly treated Bengali Muslims living in East Pakistan as second class citizens. This led to a rise in sentiments of Bengali pride and nationalism and eventually the Bangladesh Liberation War broke out in 1971. During this period, illegal immigration from Bangladesh catapulted; with people fearing death at the hands of Pakistani soldiers, many people irrespective of religion fled to India, mostly to Assam. The then Union government led by Indira Gandhi of Congress took them in and facilitated them with "Roti-Kapda and Makaan"

Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan with the help of the Indian Army, however only a few of those who fled from East Pakistan returned back to their new country- Bangladesh. This included people from all religions. As population rose, the already burdened state started scrambling for resources to sustain and this resulted in encroachment of lands (government as well as private). Many hectares of Satra land (land belonging to the Vaishnavite Monasteries), forest lands were encroached. This flooding of illegal migration into the state disturbed the political and cultural components in the region, thereby changing the demography at an alarming rate.

With the support of politicians, several thousand illegal migrants slowly found their names in the Electoral Rolls, tapping into their vote bank, and because of politics of appeasement. This led to the indigenous people feeling threatened and it was at this point that the Assam Agitation began under the leadership of AASU. The Assam Agitation lasted six years and ended on August 15, 1985 with the signing of the Assam Accord. One of the demands was a foreigner-free National Register of Citizens.

How was the NRC updated? 

Prepared on the basis of door-to-door enumeration, it took over 25 years to simply start the process to give Assam a foreigner-free NRC. The pilot project started in June 2010 in Barpeta district. It was soon called off following violence which claimed four lives. The matter was then taken to the Supreme Court and in 2013, the top court ordered for its speedy update. Since then, under the monitoring of Supreme Court, the process is underway. The current process requires people to apply for inclusion in the NCR and applications were accepted till August 31, 2015. Having published two drafts already, one on December 31, 2017, and the other on July 30, 2018, there were provisions which allowed people to reapply for inclusions at various NRC seva kendras.

A rigorous process was undertaken, involving data collection of 3.4 crore people and over 6 crore documents. It is the first of its kind and most extensive citizen engaging program undertaken globally, and Assam is the first Indian state to do so. Over 30,000 government employees, 10,000 contractual staff and over 2,500 state-of-the-art NRC Seva Kendras were set up to do the digitization of documents and collect the data that was centrally transmitted to the NRC head office in Guwahati. 

The NRC is being updated under the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1995 and The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 (As amended by 1. G.S.R 803 (E), dated November 9, 2009 (with effect from 9/11/2009), Ministry of Home Affairs (Office of the Registrar General, India), Order No. S.O. 596(E), dated 15 March 2010, published in the Gazette of India, Extra, Part II. No. 504 S.3(ii), dated 16 March 2010 p. 1.). As per the two statutes, the eligibility status would be ascertained based on the NRC, 1951, Electoral Rolls up to 1971 and in their absence the admissible documents up to 24 March (midnight) 1971.

With the final NRC at doorstep, what if your name is not there?

The NRC is not a proof of citizenship and those who find their names excluded will not be considered foreigners until they exhaust all their legal options. Citizens will get adequate time to represent their case against the exclusion. The appellate authority in this regard is the Foreigners Tribunal (FTs). The Union Home Ministry has already extended the time period to appeal by two months. Now, one whose name has been excluded in this final NRC can approach the appellate authority within 120 days. 

It is the Foreigners Tribunal who will take the final call on the fate of people excluded in the NRC.