GUWAHATI, July 8: Former Assam NRC State Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging the Centre to withhold the publication of Census data for Assam until the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is re-verified.
In his letter, Sarma claimed the 2019 NRC supplementary list contained significant errors, alleging that many ineligible persons were included while a large number of indigenous people were left out. He said he had reminded the authorities about these discrepancies and filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court seeking a complete re-verification of the NRC. The petition, WP(C) 740/2025, has been admitted for hearing.
Referring to the Census, scheduled to begin in August 2026, Sarma argued that the exercise should cover only bona fide Indian citizens. He claimed that the presence of a large number of alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam would distort the State's demographic profile and produce misleading Census figures.
He further contended that the Census results could have implications for national security and social harmony, and requested the Centre to withhold the Assam Census data until the NRC is re-verified and the records of detected foreign nationals are removed.
Sarma urged the Union Home Minister to take appropriate steps in the interest of national security, sovereignty and the protection of the Assamese community.
By
Staff Reporter