Police monitoring social media sites, legal action to be taken for provocative statements about NRC

August 30: As per the direction of the Supreme Court of India, the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be published on 31 August, 2019. However, ahead of the publication of the final NRC, the state Police Department is all prepared for any law and order situation.

Director General of Police (DGP) Kuladhar Saikia said that all safety measures have been adopted to meet any sudden untoward incidents. He informed that sufficient Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) have already reached Assam. The central government has further assured of sending more troops, if necessary. The DGP said, “Nobody will be allowed to take law in their hand. We are ready for any challenge.”

Just a day ahead of the publication of final NRC, special attention is being paid to social networking sites. The security agencies have been monitoring the social media handles including Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter minutely. DGP Kuladhar Sakia while speaking to media said, “Legal actions will be taken if somebody found posting or sharing any provocative statements of anything related to NRC or any communal statements.”

Meanwhile, a conference of all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs) of the state on Law & Order related issues was convened by the Government of Assam a few days ago, which was attended by the state Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. While addressing the DCs and SPs of the state Chief Minister Sonowal urged upon them to ensure that there exists no misunderstanding among anyone over the NRC across the state.

Alongside, it was also announced that those whose names will not feature in the final NRC need not panic as mere non-inclusion in final NRC will not amount in terming them as foreigners. As per a notification issued in this regard, it was stated that those who will be excluded from the final NRC can apply to Foreigners’ Tribunal within 120 days of declaration of the final list.