New Delhi, August 31: Reacting to the publication of the final list of National Register of Citizens or NRC of Assam, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor quoted Asia's first Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore to make a point that there is a difference between nationalism and xenophobia. Uncertainty hangs over 19 lakh people who have been left out of the final list of NRC and may end up in detention camps if they fail to prove their Indian citizenship at foreigners' tribunal. NRC Final List 2019: What Next For Assam Residents Whose Names Not Included in National Register of Citizens.

"There is a thin line between nationalism and xenophobia —besides, hatred of the foreigner could later turn into a hatred of Indians different from oneself." -- Rabindranath Tagore. The prescience of a great man! #NRC," Shashi Tharoor tweeted on Saturday. The final list of NRC was published earlier today. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), a total of 3,11,21,004 people were found eligible, whereas 19,06,657 people who did not submit claims were left out.

The first NRC that was prepared in Assam was in 1951 after the census of 1951 was undertaken. The current exercise is updation. The first part of the draft NRC, called Part Draft NRC, was published in December, 2017 and included the names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore applicants, leaving 1.30 crore out. The final draft of the NRC contained 2.9 crore names, while 40.07 lakh were excluded.

Fearing exclusion of a large number of Hindus from the list, the Bharatiya Janata Party's man in the northeast Himanta Biswa Sarma said he had lost all hope in the NRC. "We lost hope in the present form of the NRC right after the draft. When so many genuine Indians are out, how can you claim that this document is a red letter for the Assamese society," said the Assam Finance Minister, who is often hailed as the "Amit Shah of the Northeast".

"The NRC is no quarter-final, semi-final and final for driving out Bangladeshis. Wait for a while and you will see more finals under the BJP regime," Sarma added. Both the Centre and the state government had filed petitions in the Supreme Court seeking re-verification of the NRC data, however, their pleas were dismissed.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2019 03:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).