Assam NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela on Monday said that no amount of political pressure around the historic document can manipulate his focus.
Speaking to PTI, Hajela said he remained firm in discharging his "constitutional duty" under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court and did not recognise any pressure from "any other authority".
Hajela said that he does not recognise the pressure that comes. It is like Mahabharata's Arjun, who saw only the eye of the fish.
"I am doing a constitutional duty and I am doing it under the order of the Supreme Court. When I am firm that I am doing a constitutional duty, no amount of interference from any other authority makes any impact on me," he added.
"There may have been an affidavit filed by the government, but I was working under Supreme Court orders. For me, I do not recognise any amount of pressure from any quarter," he said.
The IAS also dismissed the reported pressure on him by the current BJP-led Assam government as "speculation".
"That's all speculation. I do not recognise any such pressure. I am focused. When I am doing a constitutional duty, that's the only thing that I recognise," he restated.
However, Hajela informed that he had consulted all the parties and applied all the criticism positively for the improvement of the system.
"I have been in touch with all the stakeholders, which include all the political organisations. I have been interacting with them and taking their feedback, and ensuring that the incorrect apprehensions are removed," he added.
The NRC officials viewed the criticism "as a point of view to improve our system, purify it rather", Hajela said, adding, "That is how we are going about it."
