Some residents living in villages of Sonapur circle on the fringes of Assam’s Kamrup (metro) district have not filled up forms for the claims and objections process for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as they wait for the Supreme Court hearing on Thursday.

The apex court on October 23 had sought response from the central and the state governments and other stakeholders to file their objections on the report submitted by state NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela, which suggested removal of five documents from the list of 15 for the claims process.

The five documents are 1951 NRC, voter lists upto 1971, citizenship certificates, refugee certificates and ration cards issued upto the midnight of March 24, 1971. Scores of people from Gaon Dimoria, Durung, Pub Maloibari and nearby villages only have these five documents.

“Around 7,000 people have not filled up their forms for the claims process. Most of these people have documents which have been suggested to be excluded from the claims process. We have asked them to wait. Everything depends on what the apex court says tomorrow,” said a local field-level and booth-level NRC officer from Durung.

Subodh Sarkar, a resident of Gaon Dimoria, said 7,000 people from the area had not filled up their forms. “They are all waiting for November,” he added.

Monika Mondol, former president of Maloibari gaon panchayat, said, “Many applicants’ names from here, including mine, were excluded from the final draft NRC (which was published on July 30). I had submitted my school certificate and 1951 NRC. We are now waiting for the November 1 hearing.”

The parents of most of these inhabitants as well as some of them migrated to Assam from erstwhile East Pakistan on grounds of religious persecution.

Some of them said they were issued refugee certificates by the then government of India.

“It could be around 5,000 to 7,000 people who have not filled up the forms for the claims process which began on September 25. We are all waiting for the Supreme Court hearing. Our next step will depend on its verdict. Many here do not have documents other than the five. I have a refugee certificate,” said Pramod Kar, a resident of Pub Maloibari. His father had come to Assam as a refugee.