The family members of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed’s nephew, who were left out of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) last year, have again not been included in the final list which was published on August 31.

The updated final NRC, which validates bonafide Indian citizens of Assam, was out on Saturday, with over 19 lakh applicants who failed to make it to the list staring at an uncertain future. Some of them were a few family members of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of India from 1974 to 1977. The family of the son of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed’s brother has not been listed in the final NRC.

Sajid Ali Ahmed, son of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed’s nephew, said that his name was not listed in the final NRC. Not just Sajid Ali Ahmed, his father, too, has not figured in the Assam NRC final list.

Speaking to India Today TV, Sajid Ali Ahmed said, “My grandfather’s name is Ikramuddin Ali Ahmed and he is the brother of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. I am his grandson. We are living in Barbhagia village under Rongia sub-division. We are local residents. Our names are not listed and we are worried about it. We are the family members of the former President of India, but our names are missing in the list.”

Many government employees were also among the 19 lakh people who were left out of the final list of the NRC.
A retired SBI officer, his wife, and daughter, too, have been excluded from the final NRC.

Sabimal Biswas, a 73-year-old retired State Bank of India (SBI) officer, now seems totally helpless after he didn’t find his name in the final NRC list.

Born in 1947 in Assam’s Karimganj district, Sabimal Biswas said he was shocked upon finding that he, along with his wife and daughter, were excluded from the list.

The retired SBI officer said that he had used the same legacy data for himself and for his two daughters. But, he said, one of his daughters’ name has been included in the Assam NRC final list.

“My one daughter was included but our three other family members were not. We had used the same legacy data for the inclusion of our names,” Sabimal Biswas said.

Before joining the SBI, Sabimal Biswas served two years in the Survey of India and Assam state government education department.

Sabimal Biswas said, “When I was a student, I played football and got appointed in the DPI office [Assam government education department]. After serving two years in the DPI office, I joined the Survey of India in 1967. After that, I decided to search for another job and applied in a bank, appeared for the examination and finally got a job in SBI in 1970. I now feel I have been ripped off my own citizenship in my own land.”

This story first appeared in indiatoday.in on September 01, 2019 here.