Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Assam today, for the first time after the National Register of Citizens (NCR) list was published on August 31, in the state. The NRC had left out more than19 lakh people from the list.
Home Minister’s first visit after assuming office, comes after the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been extended for six months in the state after reviewing the law and order situation , a government release said on Saturday.
Shah is scheduled to hold a meeting with Governors and Chief Ministers of the eight North Eastern states. The Home Minister will also attend the North Eastern Council (NEC) meeting.
Shah is likely to attend a meeting of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance on Monday.
Earlier, Amit Shah said in the Parliament that “40 lakh people who are out of the (draft) NRC are intruders and there is a need to expel them.”
The NRC list in Assam included names of 3.1 crore people. In the left out names BJP alleged that many Bengali Hindu refugees who had come to Assam before 1971 or people who couldn’t furnish enough documents were also left out.
The Assam government has declared that it will take all possible steps to help genuine Indians prove their citizenship and provide legal assistance to the poor. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has also said that exclusion of anyone’s name from the NRC does not mean that the person has automatically become a foreigner as such a decision can only be taken by a foreigners tribunal after following the proper legal process.