Assam: Twenty thousand transgenders still hope to get their names included in NRC

Nur Jahan, who is living in Guwahati for last two decades, didn’t find her name in the complete draft of NRC.

She is not the only transgender who didn’t find name in the list, there are around 20,000 other transgenders in Assam who didn’t make it to the NRC.

Nur Jahan, Mahima Hazarika, Jasmine and many others among the 40 lakh people whose names were not included in the complete draft of NRC.

The complete draft of NRC was published on July 30 by including the names of 2.89 crore people out of 3.29 crore applicants.

While the process of claims and objections of NRC has been started from Tuesday across the state by giving another opportunity to the 40 lakh people to make it, 20,000 transgenders of Assam are facing lots of problem to include their names in the NRC.

Nur Jahan, who is now living with others at South Sarania area in the capital city of Assam, left her home while her family members and other people avoided her.

Nur Jahan said they are genuine Indian citizens, not illegal foreigners.

“I came to Guwahati in 1998 and spent 13 years in Delhi. We did not find our names in the draft NRC. We appeal to the government to make it for the transgender. We are not Bangladeshi (illegal foreigner), we are Indian citizen. My father, grandfather was born in Assam,” Nur Jahan said.

Mahima Hazarika is another transgender, hailing from upper Assam’s Sivasagar district, who didn’t find her name in the draft NRC.

Mahima also appealed to the government to take necessary action for the inclusion of the names of transgenders in the NRC.

“We demanded, all transgender names should be included in the NRC. We are also a part of the society. We are not different. We want to live in our society,” Mahima said.

There were three options – male, female and others in the NRC application and the transgenders of Assam applied in the others community.

But the documents like birth certificates that the some transgenders had submitted mentioned them as either male or female which created some issues.

Swati Bidhan Baruah, first transgender judge in Assam said that, Assam has a population of 20,000 transgenders and some of them failed to apply in the NRC.

Major parts of the transgenders had applied, but they didn’t find their names.

“The principles and criteria set by the NRC authorities for the NRC updation process led the entire community into a paralysis situation. Due to the criteria such as documents before 1971, bank passbook and other family relationship documents, that has created a paralysis situation, because most of transgender has been abandoned by the parents, family members. So they could not go back to their homes,” Swati said.

The transgender community of Assam still hope that some norms of the NRC will be relaxed for them and their names will be included in the final NRC.

(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)