Guwahati, March 11: Assam Speaker Pranab Gogoi today said the process of NRC update should be started immediately to prevent harassment of genuine Indian citizens in the name of detection of illegal migrants.

The Speaker made this observation during question hour of the ongoing budget session of the Assembly after AIUDF’s Abdur Rahman Ajmal raised the issue of alleged harassment of bonafide citizens of Dhubri district, particularly South Salmara, by police.

Asking the government whether it was aware of the predicament of these genuine citizens, who were forced to go to Upper Assam and neighbouring states like Meghalaya for earning a living because of floods and erosion, Ajmal said, “The police harass these people on the pretext that they do not have enough documents to prove their Indian citizenship. This is simply violation of human rights and the government must do something to stop such inhumane treatment. Will the government take any action against the guilty police officials? What kind of documents do they need to prove their citizenship?”

Responding to the question on behalf of the Assam government, forest minister Rakibul Hussain told the Assembly that there was no question of harassing people in the name of detection and deportation of illegal migrants.

He said once the government receives information about specific cases of harassment, it would take action against the guilty police officers.

“The process of issuing voter identity cards in the state is in the final stage. Once these cards are issued to citizens, cases of harassment in the name of illegal migrants will come to an end,” Hussain said.

Ajmal, however, was not happy with the minister’s answers and said the government needed to work out a mechanism to prevent such cases. It was at this point when the Speaker said the process of NRC update must be completed at the earliest to prevent such cases.

Hussain told the Speaker that the government would be starting the exercise in 42 Assembly constituencies as early as possible.

Even the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) had announced yesterday that its members would resort to a 30-hour hunger strike from March 19 at all district headquarters to press for immediate initiation of the process of NRC update and implementation of all clauses of the Assam Accord.