Assam NRC: MEA says it has 'assured' Bangladesh that the list released was a 'draft' prepared under SC orders

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), days after the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) was released in Assam, said on Thursday that India has been in close touch with the Bangladesh government both prior to and following the issuance of the voters’ list. During a press conference in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the MEA had “assured” Bangladesh that the list released was still a “draft”.

It was further stated that the draft would not influence India’s ‘excellent’ relationship with Bangladesh, adding that Bangladesh has accepted that the ongoing process is “an internal matter of India”.

The publication of the second and final draft of the NRC, which failed to include the names of around 40 lakh citizens out of 3.29 crore applications, led to a political battle between the BJP and the Opposition parties. The first draft, released in December 2017, had the names of 1.9 crore applicants. [caption id=“attachment_4336501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Raveesh Kumar. Image courtesy: Facebook/@MEAIndia[/caption] Congress and Trinamool Congress had accused the Centre of dividing the people for electoral gains. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had urged people whose names were excluded from the list to not panic and assured them, saying, “Some people are unnecessarily trying to create an atmosphere of fear . This is a completely impartial report. No misinformation should be spread. This is a draft and not the final list.” A delegation of Opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC and the Left, urged President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday to ensure that not a single Indian citizen was excluded from the NRC in Assam. A memorandum submitted by the delegation to Kovind had accused the government of spreading misleading statements against the Supreme Court over the NRC issue. It had claimed that the NRC had resulted in the exclusion of over 40 lakh Indian citizens, including Bengalis, Assamese, Rajasthanis, Marwaris, Biharis, Gorkhas, Punjabis, those from Uttar Pradesh and the southern states and tribals, who were residents of Assam for a very long period. “The aftermath of the NRC 2018 was an example of the ruling dispensation threatening and attempting to ruin the country’s great institutions like the Constitution, Parliament, the judiciary and the media,” it had alleged. The delegation included Anand Sharma of the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the TMC, Mohammad Salim of the CPM, HD Deve Gowda of the JD(S), YS Chowdhary of the TDP and Sanjay Singh of the AAP among others. With inputs from PTI