Barak Valley resident 'harassed' in Hojai for not speaking in Assamese?

A video has surfaced on social media which shows a person being “harassed” at an office by few people (officials), including a woman, for not speaking in Assamese language.

According to a page on social media, the person is a resident of Badarpur in Karimganj district. The person Munna Goala had gone with his family to an NRC centre in Hojai on June 17 (Monday) for a verification related to the NRC update process.

The NRC, or National Register of Citizens, is being updated in the state under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The final draft NRC, published on July 31, 2018, featured the names of around 2.89 crore citizens out of around 3.29 crore citizens. Over 40.70 lakh citizens’ names were left out.

During the verification process, the NRC centre officials asked him to speak in Assamese to which Goala said he did not know Assamese. Goala, who belongs from a Hindi-speaking family and knows Bengali and English, asked the officials whether it was compulsory to learn Assamese to which the officials told him that it was compulsory for residents living in Assam.

Further, Goala told them that he was not taught Assamese in school and that he knows Bengali. Infuriated by Goala, the NRC officials threw away the documents brought by Goala and his family for the verification, the page said.

The 3.30-minute video has been making the rounds on social media for the past few hours. A large number of people have shared the video and expressed their anger over the incident.