The vice president of Cachar district VHP, Mithun Nath, on Saturday asserted that the Hindu names left out from the two draft lists of NRC must be there in the final list.

Speaking to Northeast Now, the vice president of Cachar district VHP, Mithun Nath informed, “Just a few days from now, the final list of the NRC is slated to be published.”

“We are not against it, but, VHP’s stand is very clear that many names of Hindus have been left out from the two draft lists published earlier,” claimed Nath.

“Those, whose names are there in the draft NRC lists is fine. But, those Hindu names that have been left out have to be incorporated in the final list at any cost,” he asserted.

Nath said this on the sidelines of the foundation day celebrations of the VHP at Silchar.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) took out a massive rally to mark its foundation day on the auspicious occasion of Janmasthami at Silchar on Saturday.

Close to 2,000 workers of VHP and its youth wing, Bajrang Dal, took to the streets from Park Road and rallied up to Rangirkhari in cavalcade of bikes, vans and trucks.

The rally culminated at Govindabari, the VHP headquarters at Silchar town.

VHP, the right-wing organization based on the ideology of Hindutva, was founded in 1964 by M.S. Golwalaker and S.S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda.

Sporting saffron headbands, the activists marched with vehicles, mounted with saffron flags, shouting slogans like ‘Jai Shree Ram’ reverberating the air.

Some of the activists also swooned to the beats of Bajrang Bali all throughout the rally.

Speaking more on the issue of inclusion of Hindu names in the NRC list, VHP leader Mithun Nath said, “The migrant Hindus, who have come from Bangladesh and Pakistan, are an integral part of India.”

“In India, no Hindu can be a foreigner. This is a clear stand of the VHP and we won’t budge from it,” he said.

“Whatever protest in any form is needed to serve the interest of the Hindus, VHP would do so in the coming days if names of many Hindus are not found in the final NRC list,” Nath added.

Ashish Dutta, the secretary of Cachar district VHP, speaking to Northeast Now, said, “Today is our foundation day.”

“But, the celebrations began since yesterday at Govindabari, our headquarters, where a cultural function and a religious congregation was held,” he added.

Dutta further said, “On this auspicious day, I wish one and all to remain steadfast and united.”

“Thanks to Narendra Modi for scrapping the Article 370. Now, we can proudly say that Kashmir is ours,” said Dutta.

“We would now want a temple of Lord Ram at Ayodhya and see the golden era of ‘Ram Rajya’ back in India,” he added.

Aniruddha Laskar is the Chief of Bureau, South Assam &and Mizoram. He can be reached at - [email protected]