Guwahati, Jun 11 (PTI) Congress MP Rakibul Hussain on Wednesday alleged that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is "deliberately conflating" the Foreigners Act and the Indian Citizenship Act to create fear among the public.
Addressing a press conference here, he condemned the Assam government's alleged action of pushing back genuine Indian citizens to Bangladesh and termed it as unconstitutional.
Hussain said that foreigners should be detected and deported according to provisions of the Assam Accord, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was a process in this direction to solve this issue.
The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 after a six-year-long violent anti-foreigner movement in the state.
"The Congress government had decided to implement the NRC based on the Assam Accord. The Citizenship Act was the legal framework for this. However, CM Sarma is now diverting attention from the real issues," he added.
The NRC, an official record of bonafide Indian citizens living in Assam, was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and released on August 31, 2019, leaving out more than 19 lakh applicants. However, it has not been notified by the Registrar General of India, leaving the controversial document without any official validity.
Elaborating on the process, Hussain said that verification, hearings, lineage checks and divisional scrutiny for the NRC were conducted under the monitoring of the Supreme Court.
"The Union Home Ministry later clarified that those included would receive full citizenship rights, while excluded individuals would retain rights until their status would legally be settled. Even the UN was assured that India would uphold democratic values in this process," he added.
Criticizing the Assam CM's recent statement, the Dhubri MP questioned the rationale behind calling the entire NRC invalid.
Sarma on June 9 said that the state government does not consider the final draft of the NRC as the “final one” claiming that ineligible people have got their names included in it through “various means”.
"Does he even accept the Assam Accord? The Citizenship Act is a central law, yet he speaks of the Foreigners Act, which is entirely separate. Is there a rift between him and the Centre?" asked Hussain.
Accusing the CM of creating confusion to hide his alleged failures, the former minister said that before elections, Sarma had promised two lakh jobs, tribal status for six communities and wage hikes for tea workers.
"None of these have materialised. Instead, he keeps taking loans, justifying it month after month. When questioned, he resorts to absurd rhetoric," he added.
Hussain claimed that the economic condition of the Assamese people is not well and there is a continuous exodus of youths outside the state.
"As the assembly election is nearing, Sarma is raking up the issue to create disturbance in the society. A section of ruling politicians have taken the people of Assam hostage to hide the failure of their governance," he added.
Hundreds of people were picked up from across Assam since May 23 on suspicion of being doubtful citizens as part of a nationwide drive, and many of them were pushed back to Bangladesh. Some of them returned after the neighbouring nation refused to accept them as their citizens.
Sarma had on Friday asserted that detection of foreigners in the state will be expedited, and action against the Declared Foreign Nationals (DFNs) will be taken as per the law.