With the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) coming out, President Student of India Organisation {SIO} Labeed Shafi expressed deep concern at 1.9 Million people being on the verge of statelessness.
He said that the process of updating NRC placed too much discretion in the hands of ordinary bureaucrats, and was ridden with complaints of unfair exclusion and faulty procedures.
This is the first time in history that a state has endangered the rights of 1.9 million of its citizens through a simple bureaucratic process. This day in history will be remembered as the Darkest Day for the citizen’s rights of India.
SIO strongly believes that a mere bureaucratic process without any judicial review cannot be the basis of endangering 1.9 million people.
And the meagre 120 days given for appeal before the Foreigners Tribunal has raised further questions over the fairness and efficacy of the entire process.
The Foreigners Tribunal in itself is not a judicial process and is headed by government appointees with little judicial qualifications.
People sitting in a closed room and deciding the fate of citizens is unacceptable and gross injustice towards its citizens said Shafi SIO strongly demands the government to ensure that the rights of all these 1.9 million people are protected until a final determination is made.
India has a legal as well as a moral obligation to ensure that no person in India is rendered stateless due to the mistakes and confusions of state officials.
