IMPHAL — Former advocate general of Assam and
former dean of the Faculty of Law at Guwahati University, Professor Romesh
Chandra Borpatra Gohain, delivered a lecture on Monday on the complexities
surrounding illegal immigration and the challenges of implementing the National
Register of Citizens (NRC) in the region.
Professor Gohain delivered his lecture at the 13th Ojha
Naorem Sanajaoba Memorial Lecture in honour of the late scholar’s 79th birth
anniversary. The event was held at the conference hall of Manipur University’s
department of Commerce at the Canchipur campus, on the outskirts of Imphal.
Professor Gohain was a close associate of late Professor N
Sanajaoba, who was also the former dean of the Faculty of Law at Guwahati
University.
The Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Trust (OSMT) organised the
memorial lecture on the theme "National Register of Citizens (NRC):
Prospects and challenges in the northeastern states."
The principal speaker, Professor Gohain, also shed light on
the pressing issue of illegal immigration in the region and the socio-political
hurdles in implementing the NRC.
The session concluded with a call to address these
challenges in a manner that upholds justice and inclusivity while maintaining
the delicate socio-cultural fabric of the region.
The event also saw academicians sharing the dais with the
principal speaker, including former vice chancellor Professor N Rajmuhan Singh
of DM University, Manipur; former head professor RK Narendra Singh of the
department of Biostatistics at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences; and
former head professor Ibo Singh of the department of Political Science at
Manipur University.
During the day’s event, secretary S Bhubol of the OSMT paid
tribute to the legacy of Ojha Naorem Sanajaoba, highlighting late Professor
Naorem Sanajaoba’s lifelong dedication to human rights advocacy since the early
1960s, as well as his relentless fight against colonialism, racism, fascism,
and casteism in the northeast.
