GUWAHATI: All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal said the Assam State Jamiat Ulama (ASJU) will explore legal options to redress the problem arising after the Supreme Court recently refused to accept ration cards as valid document for inclusion of names in the national register of citizens (NRC).Ajmal, who is an MP from Dhubri, is also the president of ASJU. The ASJU had a day-long meeting here on Saturday on the issues pertaining to the apex court 's recent order on refusal to accept ration cards, doubtful voters, detention camps for keeping foreigners and also the protracted problem of infiltration.The SC's recent order came after the Gauhati High Court also rejected acceptance of gram panchayat certificates as proof of residency for the NRC.Both the AIUDF and ASJU are apparently worried that "genuine citizens" who have submitted ration cards as document will be left out from the NRC. Their fear stemmed from the fact that the order has come at a time when the NRC updating process has progressed considerably. The latest deadline set for completing the NRC in the state has been set at December 2017."The NRC updating process was done based on the modalities which included the list of documents, including ration cards. The updating process was done based on these modalities. So, our president has instructed to explore legal options so that many genuine citizens are not excluded from NRC after the rejection of ration cards at a time when the updating process has made substantial progress," ASJU secretary, Maulana Fazlul Karim Quasimi said.AIUDF leaders said that had the ration card been excluded from the modalities beforehand it would have given much respite to many citizens.

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