NRC is a game, no political party wants it: Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi

New Delhi, 13 Feb 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: Former Chief Justice of India and current MP Ranjan Gogoi, who had earlier defended the NRC exercise in Assam, has now expressed his concern over the NRC and CAA as well.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2021 in Kolkata, Gogoi said that all parties make use of the NRC to serve their vested interests.

On the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which got mixed with the NRC in Assam, Ranjan Gogoi said, “As far as the CAA is concerned, Parliament in its wisdom has passed it and the people of Assam, my state, are agitated about it. It has given rise to serious concerns in the minds of people because it is being seen as a threat to the existence of Assamese people.”

“This needs to be handled with care,” Gogoi said adding that the 13 km area also known as the “chicken’s neck” which connects the rest of India with the North-East makes the entire region “very vulnerable”.

Explaining his point of view over the National Register for Citizens (NRC), Ranjan Gogoi said, “The NRC is a game. The illegal immigrants are told by one party that we will protect you if you vote for us and the other political party tells indigenous people that migrants are the biggest threat to you and we will expel them.”

“This has been going on in Assam for 50 years,” Gogoi said at the India Today Conclave East 2021.

It is noteworthy that Gogoi had faced criticism for defending the NRC exercise in Assam in November 2019 when he was serving as CJI. Speaking at an event in New Delhi, he had said, ”Assam NRC is not a document of the moment… But a base document for the future. A document on which we can determine future claims… 19 lakh or 40 lakh is not the point’.’ Moreover, Gogoi had played an instrumental role in getting the NRC for Assam published.

Earlier, on February 10, during the debate on the motion of thanks on President’s address, the Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra made critical remarks against former Chief Justice of India and currently Rajya Sabha member, Ranjan Gogoi. The 45-year-old MP from West Bengal’s Krishna Nagar made the reference to the former Chief Justice against whom a sexual harassment case was registered based on an allegation.

“The sacred cow that was the judiciary is no longer sacred,” Moitra said. “It stopped being sacred the day a sitting chief justice of this country was accused of sexual harassment, presided over his own trial, cleared himself and then proceeded to accept a nomination to the Upper House of Parliament within three months of his retirement replete with Z plus security.”