Guwahati:
A three-day workshop to equip locals, district level lawyers and paralegal volunteers to navigate the complex issue of citizenship after the publication of the final NRC on August 31, concluded here on Monday.
The workshop was organised by the Centre for Justice and Peace (CJP). Civil right activist Teesta Setalvad is the Secretary of CJP.
The programme was done as people whose names will be excluded would have to defend their citizenship before Foregners’ Tribunals and it must be ensured that no genuine Indian citizen suffer on account of lack of proper legal advice, Setalvad said in a release here.
Apart from workshops, printed and electronic training manuals will be prepared to ensure that basic and competent approaches by village and district level legal practitioners and paralegals in the appeal filing process will not want for depth and competence.
Among the prominent persons, who conducted the workshop include legal scholar and senior advocate Ashish Dasgupta, author, legal scholar and senior advocate H R A Choudhury, former Tripura Advocate General Bijan Chandra Das and Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Mumbai High Court’s senior advocate Mihir Desai and senior advocate Gauhati High Court Abdur Rahman Sikdar.
Academicians Prof Abdul Mannan and Amal Kanti Raha, renowned economist and Ananta Kalita former Chairman, Board of Directors, State Bank of India Ananta Kalita, former AASU member Hareshwar Barma and founding member Sanmilita Janogosthiya Sangram Samitee Abdul Batin Khandakar also shared their insights at the workshop..
The Supreme Court and High Court decisions on the crucial issues of citizenship and navigating the complicated procedural hurdles likely to follow the publication of the NRC final list on August 31 were discussed threadbare during the workshop, Setalvad added.
