No section of Assam’s population has been left unaffected by the overpowering, state-created tragedy of the NRC, writes Teesta Setalvad in The Telegraph. She points out that NRC was intended to be ‘free and fair’ and ensure to take in as many citizens under its umbrella. However, perversions and manipulations have dogged the entire process, so as to not just harass the common man but to perform to a ‘target’ set by political bosses.

“Bengali-speaking Hindus, Muslims, the Gorkhas, Hindi-speaking people of north and west India have all been caught up in this, equally. There is no way to describe what this unfolding trauma has meant, for women and men to attend hearings scheduled in places far away from home, spending significant amounts of money filling in applications. Worse, they are summoned to appear not once, but repeatedly, along with ‘legacy persons’. This means that, in some cases, many people have even had to attend hearings as many as seven to 14 times along with their entire troupe of family tree members. This means a batch of 40-80 persons from an extended family having to travel up to hundreds of kilometres from their place of residence.”