A round-table conference organised by Asam Sahitya Sabha and two other organisations on Sunday urged the government to take a final decision on the fate of stateless people who would be declared “foreigners” by the foreigners tribunals after publication of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The government has not yet spelled out any clear plan regarding those people.

“The speakers said the government should take a final decision on the stateless people who will be declared foreigners by the foreigners tribunals in the upcoming days as they have the right to live with dignity as per the Constitution of India,” a statement released after the round table said. It, however, did not give any deadline to the government.

The over three-hour conference “Assam after NRC: A quest for knowledge” was a joint initiative of the Sabha and NGOs Nanda Talukdar Foundation and Studio Nilima.

It was moderated by advocate Nilay Dutta and was attended by advocate-general of Assam, Ramesh Barpatragohain, academicians and writers like Udayan Misra, Abdul Mannan, Akhil Ranjan Dutta and Sumanta Chaliha, social worker Hemen Das, Bodo Sahitya Sabha president Kamala Kanta Mushahary, former senior Assam police officer Pallab Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson Mominul Auwal and journalists Prashanta Rajguru, Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, Mrinal Talukdar and Rajeev Bhattacharya among others.

Dutta, Barpatragohain, Chaliha and Pallab Bhattacharya are also members of the high-level committee the Centre had constituted to suggest how to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.

It is assumed that lakhs of people will be left out of the final NRC to be published by August 31. These people will have to file appeal with the tribunals within 120 days.

The Centre has clarified that under the provisions of Foreigners Act, 1946, and Foreigners (Tribunals) Order 1964, only foreigners tribunals are empowered to declare a person “foreigner”.

Thus, non-inclusion of an individual’s name in the NRC does not by itself amount to him or her being declared as a foreigner.

One of the participants in the conference hoped the final NRC would play a vital role in resolving the long-pending foreigner problem of the state.

Some of the participants said although names of foreigners who had entered Assam between 1951 and 1971 have been included in the NRC, they are not entitled for safeguards promised by Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.

The speakers also took serious note that there has been a “concerted” attempt at the international level to “demonise” Assamese society as “xenophobic” regarding the NRC process. It condemned the efforts and urged the international media to give a clear and balanced perspective and requested the civil society to scale up its engagement with the international media to give the perspective about Assam and its complexities.

The conference appealed to all sections of the people to maintain calm and harmony and help the authorities in maintaining law and order. It also urged legal experts to help the poor whose names will be dropped from the final NRC in their future legal battles.

Pallab Bhattacharya said the meeting was very constructive and thanked the organisers for taking the “good” initiative.