More than one month after the release of final NRC list, the Hindu Yuva Chatra Parishad (HYCP) has demanded the NRC to have 1951 as the cut-off date to detect foreigners instead March 24, 1971.
“The agitation to drive away illegal foreigners spanning six years which left 855 Assam youths dead, and loss of property unaccounted till date, did not serve the purpose, as the Assam Accord zeroed upon March 24, 1971 as the cut off year, instead of 1951,” HYCP president Balen Baishya told Northeast Now in Silchar on Saturday.
“The accord, which fixed 1971 as the cut off date, has only given a golden chance to the illegal immigrants to reside in Assam and settle peacefully. Nowhere in India have we seen movement for expulsion of foreigners, nor anyone has sacrificed their life for this cause,” Baishya added.
He said the Assam Accord is not a boon rather a bane for Assam.
“In all the states of India other than Assam, the cut off year for detection of foreigner is 1951. This accord cannot be a ‘blessing’ rather a ‘curse’,” said Baishya.
On being asked on the HYCP’s stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Baishya reiterated, “The CAB comes later, we are demanding right now to scrap the cut off year as 1971 and instead incorporate 1951 in conformity with rest of the country.”
The final list of NRC, published on August 31, had excluded more than 17 lakh people of the 33 million applicants.