It may be a pointless query to identify a Tamil, Marathi, or Gujarati in their respective space, but it’s a sensitive question in Assam—who is an Asomiya (Assamese national) even today. For decades, local residents of the far-eastern state toiled to find a proper definition of Asomiya but are yet to find it. Asomiya identity, however, does not confine itself to only those who understand and speak Assamese but also the indigenous communities that nurture their dialects as well as others using mainstream languages. A recent discussion, initiated by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with the leaders of the All Assam Students’ Union (which once launched the Assam Movement in association with Asom Gana Sangram Parishad), trying to resolve the explanation of an Asomiya, received widespread response from the conscious inhabitants of Assam.

Both parties agreed that Asomiya should encompass indigenous tribal families, other indigenous communities of Assam, Indian citizens residing in the territory on or before 1 January 1951, and naturally their descendants. They also discussed various means to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which was finalised in the presence of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (but he did not sign to recognize it as a bureaucratic deal only). The initiative received visible public support as the particular mentions about the ‘constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards’ to protect, preserve, and promote ‘the cultural, social, and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people’.

The previous clause refers to the illegal migrants (read East Pakistani nationals, coming to Assam before 25 March 1971 and settled), who were agreed as Indian citizens. Thus the meeting tried to distinguish the Assamese people (from a common Indian national) with the recommendations from the Biplab Kumar Sarma-led committee. Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA), a forum of nationalist citizens, appreciated the state government and AASU’s current leadership for the endeavour to define Asomiya people and insisted on supporting 1951 as the base year for ‘detection and deportation’ of illegal foreigners in Assam. The PPFA also pointed out that if deportation of those East Pakistanis becomes too difficult for various international complications, the centre should think of resettling them in other parts of India.

CM Sarma recently talked about the National Register of Citizens (NRC) too, where the Bharatiya Janata Party leader argued that the 1951 NRC should be updated across the country. The outspoken politician argued that the menace of illegal migrants (read Bangladeshi nationals) does not confine to Assam alone, as they can move to other parts of the country and settle down there as legitimate citizens. He also opined that the issue of the NRC update should be discussed in Parliament for a pragmatic course of action.

It may be mentioned that on the midnight of 31 August 2019, the then State NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela released the final NRC draft for Assam after five years of rigorous exercise under ‘monitoring’ of the Supreme Court of India. However, the NRC supplementary list is yet to be endorsed by the Registrar General of India. Meanwhile, a growing demand is placed for a complete re-verification of the NRC draft, as it allegedly includes thousands of migrant families’ names.

Former state government chief Sarbananda Sonowal publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the NRC, and the Saffron leader advocated for a 20 percent revision in border districts and a 10% revision in other areas. However, neither Sonowal nor his successor Sarma initiated the process and filed an affidavit in the apex court. Later, the NRC updating process embraced an alleged scam of Rs 260 crore, which was detected by none other than the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The highest national audit body in the 2020 report even recommended penal actions against Hajela and Wipro (which worked as the system instigator in the process).

Another concerning matter remains the plight of over 6,000 temporary workers, who functioned as data entry operators (DEOs) in the process, along with over 50,000 government employees, but have yet to get their due salaries. Wipro Limited received an average of Rs 14,500 per DEO as salaries from the NRC authority, but it paid around Rs 5,500 per month (an amount below the legal minimum wage) only. A simple calculation can find the total volume of money (over Rs 100 crore), which was syphoned by Wipro Limited and its subcontractor Integrated System and Services.

The NRC left out 19 lakhs of people who either did not apply or could not place valid documents to prove Indian citizenship (contrary to the national cut-off year, Assam still practises 1971 as the base year to detect a foreign settler, thanks to Assam Accord provisions). Suspicions had arisen that Hajela used tampered software to include millions of Bangladeshi Muslims (and exclude many inhabitants) to the NRC in return for a huge volume of foreign money. But surprisingly, Hajela was granted voluntary retirement benefits by the current government in Dispur.

It was also amazing how some Guwahati-based television journalists tried to project the NRC draft as flawless and the final one. The probable beneficiaries of the NRC scam tried to kill the voice supporting 1951 as the cut-off year in their talk shows, pointing out that it would only burn Assam (at least one television show host was named and shamed on social media, but he remained silent over the development). Now, when Sarma pursues a country-wide NRC, it’s assumed that Assam will also enjoy the same base year as other states do. Amidst all the negative news about the NRC, the indigenous population would expect due political will from both the governments in Dispur and New Delhi over the development.

The pertinent issue was recently discussed in a prime-time show. The programme was enriched by the presence of Hitesh Devsarma, the immediate successor of Hajela as the state NRC coordinator, and Assam Public Works president Aabhijeet Sharma (who approached the Supreme Court for updating of NRC in Assam) along with this writer and party representatives Shiladitya Deb (BJP) and Ratul Patowary (Indian National Congress).

Devsarma lodged two FIRs against Hajela demanding a high-level probe over the NRC updating process as it involved a huge volume of government money and also national security (that is threatened by the presence of numerous illegal migrants in the NRC draft). He even submitted an affidavit in the SC regarding the NRC issue, but it has not been heard yet. Similarly, Sharma, along with award-winning Assamese filmmaker Luit Kr Barman and social activist Gitika Bhattacharya, also filed three official complaints, but none has been entertained by the concerned authorities till date.

Asom Sanmilita Mahasangha leader Matiur Rahman, who also participated in the program, revealed that the SC would come out with its observation over the exclusive cut-off date (to identify illegal migrants) for Assam. If the apex court endorses the national cut-off year for Assam (responding to their petition), the current NRC will have to be redrafted again, where the applicants submitting the documents reflecting the post-1951 period will need to reapply for justifying their citizenship. Hence he urged everyone to wait passionately for the direction of SC, which may surface by the year-end.

The writer is a Guwahati-based special representative of The Statesman