Minors Excluded From NRC, Families Try to Prove Their Citizenship

Minor children in Baksa district of Assam have been excluded from the NRC while their families made it to the list.

Muzamil is a class 5 student, who has been excluded from the final draft of the NRC in Assam, while his whole family is included in the list.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Producer: Ashutosh Bhardwaj

While FIRs have been filed against Assam Coordinator of the National Register of Citizens Prateek Hajela for discrepancies in the final updated list, some families are trying to prove that their children, who have been excluded from the list, are Indian.

On 31 August, the updated NRC was released, with 19 lakh people being excluded from it. Among those excluded from the list is 5-year-old Saahin Ashwar from Baksa district.

Saahin is the only one from his family to be excluded from the NRC list. “My name is not in the NRC. If one is not in the NRC, one is a foreigner,” Saahin told The Quint.

His father, Saddam Hussain said:

“The problem is that his name is Saahin but the NRC authorities have written his name as Sachin Ashwar.”

Saahin’s name was not included in the first draft NRC that was released in July 2018, his father said, adding that the family had filed a claim for his inclusion.

“The whole family was in the first list so he was called for hearing. All documents were checked during the hearing but his name was still not included.”

Another minor, 12-year-old Muzamil is also excluded from the list while his family name is included.

“People who are not in the NRC are called Bangladeshi. I feel bad when I am called Bangladeshi,” Muzamil told

Muzamil’s father, Ashraf Ali, said that his son was called for multiple hearings. “Twice locally and once in Baganpara.”

“They asked me if he’s my son. I asked them to take my signature but they said it’s not needed, it will get sorted out. His name is still not in the NRC.”

Ashraf Ali

He said that the authorities might have marked him absent from the hearings. The family is now set to go to the foreigners tribunal to claim Muzamil’s Indian citizenship.