A poster depicting Goddess Durga slaying Prateek Hajela portrayed by NELECC on the day of Mahalaya in Silchar
A poster depicting Goddess Durga slaying Prateek Hajela portrayed by NELECC on the day of Mahalaya in Silchar Photo: Northeast Now

On the day of ‘Mahalaya’, the Northeast Linguistic and Ethnic Coordination Committee (NELECC) as part of their protest, projected state NRC coordinator, Prateek Hajela, as the ‘demon’ which goddess Durga should vanquish at the earliest.

This is part of their series of protest for de-listing five documents from the initial 15 for verification and identification to be a bonafide citizen of India.

NELECC members on Monday sat for a protest just on the approach road to Sadarghat Bridge in order to spread their word across, on a day, when footfall for this place crosses more than 20,000 between 5AM to 7AM.

All the NELECC members urged to incorporate all the five documents by the Supreme Court and allow lakhs of people who are passing everyday in fear of their existence a relief, said Santanu Naik, member of NELECC.

Speaking about their demands and portraying Prateek Hajela as a demon on Mahalaya, Santanu Naik, said, “We have appealed to the Supreme Court to look at our point and judge for the same. Where will these Hindu minorities go, who have come to India persecuted from a foreign land. With the arrival of Goddess Durga, we seek her blessings in vanquishing Prateek Hajeja, for he is the root cause of the state of affairs of NRC and the present mess.”

He added, “We also appeal that Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2016, should be passed in this winter session, for, only by it, the persecuted people would get some respite and can live with dignity. Just imagine, the state of one’s mind whose name has not come so far, when news reports of land being searched to set up detention camps does the rounds, questioned,” Santanu Naik.

Meanwhile, on condition of anonymity, a member of NELECC informed that the district administration on behalf of the state is already preparing a case to be registered against NELECC for such an ‘aggression’. An aggression of Hajela Daman.

Repeated attempt to contact Hajela to know his reaction on the matter yielded no result as he did not receive calls.