The Fire is Burning Again

1979: A Movement began in Assam against the illegal migration that was leading to demographic changes and was threatening the very socio-cultural fabric of the State.

2019: Four decades later the State seems to be getting ready for another such long period of agitation. But this time the issue of illegal migration also has a communal colour added to it.

And, all this courtesy of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill seeks to provide citizenship to illegal migrants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian religious communities coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who migrated to India till 31 December 2014.

And, what does that mean to Assam – this means that the State which has been trying to detect and deport illegal migrants from Bangladesh, who came after 25 March 1971, will now have to take the burden of all those Hindu illegal migrants who came to India till 31 December 2014.

Here, we need to be clear about one point – an illegal migrant is an illegal migrant irrespective of religion. Whether he/she is a Muslim or a Hindu, it does not matter. If they have entered India without valid documents, they need to be deported back.

The explanation given in favour of the Bill is that it is trying to protect the persecuted Hindus from these three countries. But the question is that how will one know whether they are really persecuted or not? A Hindu from Bangladesh may have entered India illegally to look for better economic opportunities; but, he may say that he had faced religious persecution in that country. Where is the proof of that? Who will verify the validity of his claim? This is an unanswered question, and, I think, it is also an unanswerable question.

And, since these persons have entered illegally there are no records of their date of entry. Anyone can claim that they have entered India before 31 December 2014. No way of checking this claim too!!

So, if the Bill is passed, any Hindu from Bangladesh can enter India illegally and say that they have entered India before 31 December 2014 and have been faced religious persecution. He can then apply for citizenship and then become an Indian citizen in due course of time. Who can stop him, when the law is on his side?

This means that we are now looking at another demographic invasion. But, this time it will target our language.

And it will also turn the entire NRC update futile.

This Bill has also revitalized the oldest insurgent group in the state – the ULFA. The outfit has grabbed the opportunity to attract youths to its fold and during the last few months around 30 youths have joined ULFA. And this also includes software engineers as well as management professionals. In fact, the outfit had also opened a Facebook page and within the first 20 hours, the page had received hundreds of ‘Likes’. Some youths even shared their mobile numbers on the page, expressing their desire to join the outfit. The Facebook page was blocked by the authorities, but it showed how there has been a rise of resentment among the masses against this decision of the Central government.

In such a situation, it can be observed that the call for ‘independence’ of Assam may rise again, if the Bill is passed by the Parliament.

A section of youths may take up arms once again.

In a democracy, it is essential that the Government listen to the views of the people.

It should remember that we are a ‘Secular Democratic Republic’ and the Government is elected by the people and they should govern as per the wish of the people.

And the people of Assam wish that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill be scraped and thrown away in the dustbin.