As NRC Tightens Grip, For Thousands Of People In Flood-Ravaged Assam It's A Matter Of Life & Citizenship

Assam is facing a severe flood situation with incessant rain and swelling of river Brahmaputra, forcing people to flee homes and look for shelter.

Out of Assam's 33 districts, 28 remained under the grip of floods that has displaced nearly 54 lakh people and killed 36 people, so far.

Life in Kaziranga National Park is also in tatters with animals drowning and some trying to escape water by swimming. More than 90 per cent of the national park is submerged under water as of now.

Apart from saving their lives, people of Assam are also dealing with citizenship woes. People living on the islands along the Brahmaputra river are facing another problem. They are expected to attend the hearing for National Register of Citizens (NRC) to resolve inconsistencies but are unable to make it due to flood in the river.

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For thousands of people in flood-ravaged Assam it is a matter of life and citizenship.

As they try to save their and their families¡¯ lives, another thing that can put them on the edge is their citizenship. At one hand is their life and on the other hand its politics.

The NRC deadline is near. The government has set a date of July 31 to complete the citizenship process. The final National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be published at the end of this month, hardly two weeks from now.

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Till then, people who are on the verge of losing their life, must guard their identity documents with life.

Activists are calling for special hearings for people are affected by floods and need more time to settle down and find a safe place to save their lives and documents to prove they are the citizens of this country.

On June 26, an additional list of names of more than one lakh people was released. Later, the Centre and Assam government had moved the Supreme Court seeking re-verification of 20 per cent names in the draft NRC in the state.

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"Pass an order directing 20 percent sample re-verification of names included in the final draft NRC in districts of the state of Assam bordering Bangladesh and a 10 percent sample re-verification of names included in the final draft NRC in the remaining districts of Assam," the Centre's plea said, as reported by Firtspost.

Assam is the only state to have a massive influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, and is the only state to have NRC. However, there is a chance to have a pan-India NRC.