CJI: NRC faces motivated tirade

New Delhi, November 3

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Sunday said the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam was a “base document for the future” and “a vital initiative for peaceful co-existence”.

Insisting that the Assam NRC was not just a document for the moment, he said it will be helpful in determining future claims. The Chief Justice was speaking at the launch of a book, “Post-Colonial Assam”, by Mrinal Talukdar.

“Nineteen lakh or 40 lakh is not the point. But it is a base document for the future. A document on which we can refer to determine future claims. The intrinsic value of the NRC, in my view, is mutual peaceful co-existence. Progressive societies are meant to be inclusive,” said Justice Gogoi.

He said the national discourse on the NRC had seen the emergence of armchair commentators who present a distorted picture.

He also slammed people using the social media to cast aspersions on the NRC. “The social media and its tools have been used by many commentators to double-speak on the issue. They launched a motivated tirade at a democratic institution. These commentators and their vile on the initiative (NRC) were far removed from the facts,” he said. — IANS