Normal life hit in parts of Assam due to 12-hour bandh over NRC
Guwahati: Normal life was affected in parts of Assam on Friday as a students' union observed a 12- hour bandh in the state over exclusion of members of an indigenous group from the final NRC. Asserting that the updated register, published on August 31, was "full of errors", the All Koch Rajbongshi Students' Union (AKRSU) demanded that members of its community, who have been left out, be immediately included.
One of the protesters told reporters that AKRSU will not accept the final NRC as "the list was full of errors". He also said that thousands of Koch Rajbongshi people have been excluded from the register. Official sources said no incident of violence has been reported from any part of the state, but the protesters were seen burning an effigy of state NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela at Nalbari district's Kauli area.
Almost all shops, banks, educational institutes and offices remained closed in Koch Rajbongshi-dominated areas of Morigaon, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Nalbari, Nagaon and Sivasagar districts, the sources said. Private vehicles also stayed off the roads, though state-run long-distance buses plied on national highways with police escort, they said.
Five agitators, including AKRSU's Kumarkata unit president Deepak Roy, were detained by the police during the day as they refused to lift a road blockade.
The 12-hour shutdown, however, did not have much impact on Guwahati, the sources added. More than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants have been excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC), released in Assam last month.
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NCBC summons Karnataka Chief Secretary over Muslim quota inclusion
New Delhi: The Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes, Hansraj Ahir, has called upon the Karnataka Chief Secretary to elucidate the rationale behind the inclusion of the entire Muslim community in the OBC category in Karnataka.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has levied accusations against the Congress party, alleging the transfer of reservation benefits from other backward classes to their electoral constituencies.
"This is a blatant effort to Islamize India and sow division within the nation. Similar endeavours were undertaken during the UPA government's tenure, which the BJP vehemently opposed. Disregarding the Justice Verma Committee Report and the Sachar Committee Report, this is an attempt by the Congress to plunder the reservation entitlements of other backward classes, SCs, and STs," asserted Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath.
In response to these developments, the NCBC Chairman has summoned the Chief Secretary of Karnataka, instructing them to furnish a comprehensive report outlining the criteria used to classify the Muslim community as educationally and socially backward, thereby granting them 4 percent reservation under Category 2B.
Karnataka's state government currently extends reservation to 17 socially and educationally backward Muslim communities under Category 1 and 19 communities under Category 2A.
