Silchar: The founder-president of the All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students' Association, Pradip Dutta Roy, on Thursday slammed AGP ministers Keshab Mahanta and Atul Bora for their recent statements that Bengali Hindus in Assam, whose names did not appear in the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), would not be allowed to stay in the state.

The AGP is a constituent of the BJP-led government in Assam.

The first draft of the NRC in Assam was published at midnight of December 31, 2017. The complete and final draft was published on July 30 this year. More than 40 lakh citizens' names were missing from the complete draft. The NRC list is slated to be published in December this year.

At a news conference here on Thursday morning, Dutta Roy told reporters that the Centre had complete discretion to take a decision on Bengali Hindus whose names would be missing from the NRC list.

"Who are they (Keshab Mahanta and Atul Bora) to comment on this? Who gave them the right?" he asked.

Dutta Roy said names of people from other communities such as Assamese, Bodo, Dimasa and Rajbongshi besides the tea tribe community were not included in the final draft of the NRC. "The issue is not just related to Bengalis/Bengali Hindus. There are other communities as well," he said.

He alleged that some unscrupulous elements were trying to drive a wedge between people of different communities in Assam to create unrest in the state using the sensitive issue of NRC.

About the Trinamul Congress delegation detained at Silchar airport recently, Dutta Roy said it was nothing but a "drama" by the members of the delegation.

"How could the Trinamul leaders behave in an irresponsible way though they were informed that Section 144 CrPC was in force?" he said.

The Trinamul delegation, comprising West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim and MPs Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Ratna De Nag, Mamata Balathakur, Nadimul Haque and Arpita Ghosh along with MLA Mahua Mitra, were to attend a citizens' convention here.

They were stopped and taken into "preventive detention" under Section 151 of the CrPC in view of a possible disruption of law and order and returned from here on August 3.

Launching a scathing attack on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her recent statement that the NRC exercise was done with a "political motive" and would lead to "bloodbath and civil war" in the country, Dutta Roy said Mamata had no knowledge whatsoever about the NRC and Assam.

"The move to send the Trinamul delegation by Mamata was a ploy to disturb the peaceful ambience in Barak Valley and Assam in general," he said.