The National Register of Citizens (NRC) list that the government has prepared in Assam has left out 2000 transgender people from it.
The NRC is aimed at identifying illegal immigrants who entered and settled in Assam, primarily from Bangladesh, after March 25, 1971 and deport them to their native country. A total of 19 Lakh people were excluded from the list.. However, the final list has raised a lot of questions, including the fate of the people who have not been included in the list.
A petition has now been filed in the Supreme Court in this regard. Swati Bidhan Baruah, Assam’s first transgender judge, told ANI: “Most transgenders were abandoned, they do not have documents pertaining to before 1971. Objection applications did not contain ‘others’ as a gender category. NRC was not inclusive for transgenders and forced them to accept male or female as their gender. We are hoping the Supreme Court will take into consideration our petition,”
In July, Varta had published a story about how transgender people were being excluded in the NRC. The report mentioned how Assam had officially 11,374 trans people, but only 2000 had applied to be included in the NRC list. “For trans individuals who have long been separated from their families and survived with little education, livelihood opportunities or social capital, gaining access toanylegacy or lineage document itself can be a major challenge,” the report had listed among one of the many problems being faced by the trans community.
Those excluded from the NRC list have 120 days to file an appeal before the Foreigners Tribunals