New Delhi: As many as 19,06,657 people have been left out of Assam's National Register of Citizens, published on August 31.

Among them are the likes of Kargil war veteran Mohammad Sanaullah, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Ananta Kumar Malo, and former AIUDF MLA Ataur Rahman Mazarbhuyan.

The exercise to update the list has been criticised, demanded, fought over and widely debated through the years within which time, notable exclusions which resulted in severe consequences for the people left out have often been reported. While most of the reported cases have essayed stories of everyday people affected by the list and its verification, the three exclusions above stand out as they have all served the country in one way or another.

Also read: Final NRC Published in Assam; 19.06 Lakh Applicants Left Out

The most surprising omission among the them is Malo, a sitting MLA from Abhayapuri (south). Neither his son, nor his grandson's names figure on the list, reported Inside Northeast.

Malo belongs to AIDUF, a party formed by Badruddin Ajmal, which is the primary opposition in the Assam assembly.

His former party colleague, ex-MLA Mazarbhuyan is another notable exclusion. A veteran politician and prominent minority voice, Mazarbhuyan had recently joined the Congress.

To no one's surprise and in spite of the wide publicity of his case, retired Army officer and Kargil veteran Mohammad Sanaullah too was excluded from the list. In May, Sanaullah had been declared a foreigner and sent to a detention centre.

"I was not expecting my name to be in the list as my case is still pending in the high court, I have full faith in the judiciary and I'm confident that I will get justice," Sanaullah told ANI.

To Hindustan Times, however, Sanaullah said he had hoped for a last minute change after being called to the NRC seva kendra in Chaygaon last week and asked to provide copies of the Foreigners Tribunal verdict which had declared him a foreigner. Sanaullah's two daughters and son are also missing from the list.

Another prominent exclusion was the daughter of Dalgaon Congress MLA Ilias Ali. Ali himself is in the list, but his daughter is not.

On Saturday, a key point that stood out was the fact that no one, including the original petitioner Assam Public Works, was fully satisfied with the NRC. While the All Assam Students Union, which started the movement for the expulsion of illegal immigrants, was unhappy with the fact that the excluded persons' figure was "so less," Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam has said more illegal immigrants should have been included. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi have also said they were disappointed by the list.

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