NRC: Assam’s lone woman CM Anwara Taimur left out, TMC team complains of harassment

Assam, August 3: Among the notable names left out of the draft National Registry of Citizens in Assam is the state’s lone woman chief minister Anwara Taimur, who was the first Muslim woman to occupy the top post in any state. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said in Parliament that the draft is not final and the government would not take coercive action against anyone. Defending the detention of Trinamool Congress MPs at the Silchar airport, he said the lawmakers were being unruly and were detained to maintain law and order. The TMC, meanwhile, has moved privilege motions, alleging that its MPs were manhandled. The party says it will observe Saturday and Sunday as ‘black days’.

The Cachar district administration on Wednesday night had issued prohibitory order under Section 144 of the CrPC in the district. The Assam Police, however, denied that the TMC leaders were harassed. Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia said senior officers of the force “very respectfully” explained to the team that they would not be allowed to leave the airport as 144 of the CrPC was in force. They have also been barred from entering Guwahati, as per an order by city Police Commissioner Hiren Nath, Saikia said last evening and added that two Assam Police women constables were injured during a scuffle by the team.

Meanwhile six leaders of the Trinamool Congress, who were part of the eight-member delegation detained at Silchar airport while attempting to visit Assam post-NRC, said they were treated “like infiltrators and pushed back”. The six leaders left Assam this morning after overnight detention at the airport. Cachar district Deputy Commissioner S Lakshmanan said six TMC leaders left and two others — MPs Mamatabala Thakur and Arpita Ghosh — would leave the state later in the day. The TMC delegation — six MPs, one MLA and one West Bengal minister — had gone to Silchar in Assam to interact with people left out of the complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on July 30. The complete draft of the NRC, touted to be a proof of Assamese citizenship, had excluded over 40 lakh people, triggering a political slugfest between the BJP and other political parties.

A day after the National Register of Citizens (NRC) left out 40 lakh people in Assam in the lurch and unsure of their citizenship, BJP chief Amit Shah and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee attacked each other and questioned the other’s commitment to national security. ​ Banerjee, who in Delhi to gather support for her federal front, alleged that the NRC exercise was done with a “political motive” to divide people and warned that it would lead to bloodbath and a civil war in the country. “How will they live in Assam? Where will they get food, shelter, schools?” the West Bengal CM said while referring to those at risk of losing their citizenship. “The NRC is being done with a political motive. We will not let this happen. They (BJP) are trying to divide the people. The situation cannot be tolerated. There will be a civil war, blood bath in the country,” Banerjee told a conclave here. Her remarks drew a sharp response from Amit Shah, who said he was stunned by Banerjee’s comments and asked her to clarify what kind of civil war she was talking about.