GUWAHATI
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday announced a crackdown on Aadhaar cardholders who do not figure in or did not apply for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Assam undertook the exercise to update the NRC of 1951 at an estimated cost of ₹1,600 crore after a notification was issued in December 2013. The complete draft of the updated list of citizens was published in August 2019, leaving out 19.06 lakh out of some 3.3 crore applicants for lack of proper documents.
Campaigning for panchayat polls at Azara on the western edge of Guwahati, the Chief Minister said the State government was ramping up efforts to address the issue of illegal migrants in Assam.
“Within a few days, we will also start a drive against people who have obtained Aadhaar cards and are living in Assam without having applied for the NRC,” he said.
The NRC process was paused after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government sought re-verification of the citizens’ list to weed out non-citizens who it claimed crept in with fake documents. Some officials heading the exercise were accused of corruption and manipulation, too.
In an attempt to link the Aadhaar number with the NRC, the Assam Cabinet decided in December 2024 to reject the applications for the unique identity card of people who did not apply to be in the NRC. Mr. Sarma said infiltration attempts by the citizens of politically unstable Bangladesh led to the decision.
‘Excess’ Aadhar cards
In September 2024, Mr. Sarma said Assam had more Aadhaar cardholders than the projected populations in at least four districts: Barpeta, Dhubri, Morigaon, and Nagaon. The majority of these districts are Muslim, mostly of Bengali origin, often perceived as Bangladeshi.
He said that while 103.74% of Barpeta district’s projected population was found to possess Aadhaar cards, the figures for Dhubri (bordering Bangladesh), Nagaon, and Morigaon districts were 103.48%, 101.86%, and 101.76%, respectively.
“The Centre, after going through our proposal, agreed to make it tougher to get an Aadhaar card in Assam. Apart from citing the NRC application number, an Aadhaar applicant will also have to get a no-objection certificate from the District Commissioner concerned,” the Chief Minister had said.
He also said that the new conditions would not be applicable for the 9.52 lakh people whose biometrics were frozen during the NRC updating process, and some tea plantation workers who were unable to apply because of issues of accessibility.
The Centre decided in August 2024 to unfreeze the biometrics of these people who figure in the NRC.
‘Pakistan supporters’
The Chief Minister said he had directed the Assam police to take strict action against individuals supporting Pakistan.
So far, 17 people have been arrested for allegedly offensive comments on the Pahalgam terror attack. They include the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Aminul Islam, and a woman social media personality named Dimple Borah.
“I have given blanket orders to the Assam police to apprehend anyone found extending support to Pakistan, and slap the National Security Act against them, if needed,” Mr. Sarma said.
