Guwahati, July 21: Nearly six years after Assam’s final National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published, the Assam State Jamiat Ulama has approached the Supreme Court seeking completion of the exercise by issuing NRC identity cards to those included in the register and rejection slips to the over 19 lakh people excluded, enabling them to pursue legal remedies.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Tuesday, the organisation’s treasurer and former AIUDF MLA Rafikul Islam said that although the final NRC was published on August 31, 2019, the process remains incomplete as identity cards have not been issued to those whose names appeared in the register, while those left out are yet to receive rejection slips specifying the reasons for their exclusion.
Islam said the petition, filed by Assam State Jamiat Ulama General Secretary Maulana Fazlul Karim Qasimi, has been registered as Writ Petition (Civil) No. 839 of 2026. He said the matter came up before a Supreme Court bench headed by the Chief Justice, which issued notices to the Assam government, the Union government, the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the NRC authorities, seeking their responses through affidavits.
He expressed hope that the apex court would direct the authorities to complete the long-pending process by issuing identity cards to those included in the NRC and rejection slips to those excluded, allowing them to challenge their exclusion through the appropriate legal process.
Clarifying the organisation’s stand, Islam said Assam State Jamiat Ulama supports the identification and deportation of illegal foreign nationals in accordance with the law but opposes what it termed the harassment of genuine Indian citizens in the name of detecting foreigners.
“We are not on the side of foreigners. Anyone staying in India illegally should be dealt with according to the law. But genuine citizens should not be harassed or pushed back by branding them as foreigners,” he said.
Commenting on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Islam alleged that the exercise was politically motivated and aimed at disenfranchising genuine voters. Referring to recent Supreme Court observations, he argued that deletion of a person’s name from the electoral roll does not determine citizenship, adding that the Election Commission has no authority to decide whether a person is an Indian citizen.
He maintained that there was no need for further verification exercises after completion of the NRC and urged the government to complete the long-pending process without further delay.
