Asia UnhedgedReal-time intel on what moves markets West Bengal chief minister says Bengali speakers and people from Bihar state were not listed on national register, fears many will flee to her state By Bertil Lintner August 2, 2018 6:45 PM (UTC+8) Share Tweet Linkedin Print Email Share 0 Comment 0 More than four million people have been excluded from a list of Indian citizens in the northeast state of Assam, according to reports by Benar News, an online news service affiliated with the US-based Radio Free Asia, as well as various Indian newspapers and websites. The list, known as the National Register of Citizens (NRC), is being updated for the first time since 1951 to include people who have legal identity documents issued before March 24, 1971 and their descendants. The names of about 29 million of the nearly 33 million applicants in Assam were included in the list. Those excluded consist mainly of people who have migrated to India since the outbreak of the Bangladesh war of independence from Pakistan. Benar quoted Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the neighboring state of West Bengal, as saying: “We are worried because people are being made refugees in their own country, it’s a plan to throw out Bengali-speaking people and Biharis from Assam. “As many as 4 million Bengalis have been declared non-Indians. What will happen if they [Assam authorities] push them back and if Bangladesh does not want to take them back?” Banerjee’s concern was that all those people may end up… [Read full story]
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