Series of protests held in Assam against the Citizenship Bill
New Delhi, Dec. 4 (IANS): Less than 12 hours before the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met to pass the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) that led to widespread protests in the entire Northeast in the run-up to the 2019 general election, there was a hush-hush meeting In New Delhi’s Assam Bhawan.
Attended by BJP President and Home Minister Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, his colleague Himanta Biswa Sarma, Manipur CM Biren Singh and Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio, the meeting was to address concerns of the Northeast that the amendment will bring in a rush of people from neighbouring countries, altering the unique ethnic and demographic nature of the area.
At least nine representatives from four organisations met Amit Shah where he is believed to have comforted them with an assurance that the unique identity of the Northeast will not be altered in exchange for a promise that the groups will not protest the amended Bill.
Sources say one of the ways in which Shah would have allayed their fears is by reassuring them that the draft of the Bill would exclude the Northeast.
The four organisations that met Shah were Manipur People Against Citizenship Amendment Bill (MANPAC), Zeliangrong Union (Assam, Manipur, Nagaland unit), The North East Forum for Indigenous People (NEFIP) and Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM)’s Imphal Unit.
Among them, MANPAC is the most influential and vocal organisation that spearheaded a movement against the BJP-led Centre for its proposal to bring in the bill ahead of the 2019 general election.
Just before leaving for Delhi, the MANPAC held a press conference in Imphal where its convener Yumnamcha Dilipkumar reasserted its firm stand against the Bill. The outfit has been critical of the state’s Chief minister Biren Singh for failing to give any assurance against the implementation of CAB in the state. No wonder, then, six out of the nine representatives were from MANPAC.
Besides Yumnam Dilipkumar (Convenor), the others from MANPAC were: Somorendro Thokchom, L. Jaduman (both Co-Convenors), Debananda Sharma, Kheiruddin Shah and Sharatchandra Singh (all Core Committee members).
Sources say the North-East representatives were not against CAB but against the Northeast coming within its ambit. Most of them fear that a huge influx from Bangladesh will alter the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and demographic identity of their respective states. Shah reportedly assured them that the Centre will ensure their concerns are addressed.
Just a few days ago, a dozen non-BJP MPs from seven north-eastern states wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to keep residents of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Sikkim out of the ambit of the CAB.
In September, at the fourth conclave of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) held in Guwahati, Chief Ministers of Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya requested Amit Shah to keep their states out of the purview of the Bill.
The Bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament next week.
The Bill, which has been criticised by the Opposition as “unconstitutional”, was passed in the previous Lok Sabha in January but was not tabled in the Rajya Sabha. It lapsed after the term of the Lok Sabha ended in May.
The CAB seeks to amend a 1955 law to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from the Muslim-dominated countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan if they have lived In India for six years.
NESO flays Union cabinet’s decision on Citizenship Act
The North East Student’s Organisation (NESO), here on Wednesday, hit out at the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government over the cabinet decision on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, saying the government had imposed the Bill on the indigenous communities.
“We resent the cabinet decision. They are forcefully imposing the CAB on the indigenous communities of the north-eastern states,” NESO supremo Samuel Jyrwa told IANS. He said the central government was aware that the people of the region were opposed to the CAB and they still went ahead to hurt our sentiments.
“We, at the NESO, will be meeting in a day or two to discuss the cabinet decision and will decide our next course of action to prevent the CAB from being passed in Parliament,” Jyrwa said.
The NESO is an apex body of the indigenous student groups across the seven northeastern states and has been leading the protest against the amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955.
It had also cautioned the central government that “such an undesirable step by Parliament will again agitate the entire Northeast.”
The NDA government had introduced the Bill in its previous tenure, but could not push it through due to protests by opposition parties and it lapsed following the dissolution of the last Lok Sabha.
The Bill has been opposed by the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the DMK, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Left. Even regional parties, like the Biju Janata dal have expressed reservations.
On Wednesday, Union Cabinet gave its nod to the CAB that seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The cabinet approval came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah held consultative meetings with Chief Ministers of the Northeastern states, leaders of different political parties and civil society groups and other stakeholders in New Delhi.
The NESO, which attended the meeting, had voiced its opposition to the CAB.
AIUDF writes to Amit Shah requesting withdrawal of CAB
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, requesting him not to introduce the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament as it is “against the interest of people of Assam and the whole country”.
The AIUDF has opposed the bill as it will have “severe impact on the socio-economic and political aspects of the country”, the letter said.
“We appeal to you to initiate necessary measures so that the bill which goes against the interest of the people of Assam and the whole country, is not brought on the floor of Parliament,” it said.
Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet cleared the bill that seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution there, sources said.
A bill to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, is likely to be introduced in Parliament in the next two days, the sources said.
The AIUDF firmly stands by the Assam Accord of 1985 which had fixed March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for the detection of foreigners in Assam, said the letter, a copy of which has been sent to Assam Chief Minister Sarbanada Sonowal.
“AIUDF’s clear stand is for detection and expulsion of all post-1971 foreigners from Assam irrespective of caste, creed and religion through due process of law,” it said.
Assam is a “heterogeneous state” having a large number of people belonging to different tribes and castes such as Bodos, Dimasa, Tiwa, Mising, Motak, Moran, Koch-Rajbongshi, and Muslim and Hindu communities, the party leaders said.
All the communities of people are residing peacefully for centuries together but the proposed bill is “bound to disturb the peaceful existence of people in Assam”, nine signatories to the letter claimed.
The letter, made available to the media here, has been signed by the party’s Vice President Attwal Mazid and other office bearers.
“After the partition of the country, Assam has already borne the burden of about 25 lakh registered and unregistered refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and this state is not in a position to bear the burden of any more refugees,” it said.
It may be mentioned here that “due to lack of industries in Assam, the state is not in a position to solve the gigantic unemployment problem and the proposed amendment shall add to the woes of the people”, the letter said.
Assam students protest against CAB
The Dibrugarh University, alma mater of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, here on Wednesday, witnessed a protest against the Union Cabinet’s nod to the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).
The CAB is likely to be tabled in Parliament soon.
The students union of the varsity held a protest, shouting slogans against the Bill and the Sonowal-led government. They burnt effigies of the Chief Minister, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Agriculture Minister Atul Bora.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to make Assam a dumping ground of illegal foreigners. We are not going to accept this. There will be more protest in the days to come,” said a students’ leader.
The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) also burnt effigies of the Chief Minister and several of his cabinet colleagues in different parts of the state.
On Tuesday night, students of the historical Cotton College in Guwahati staged a candlelight protest.
Representatives of several organisations were invited to a consultative meeting over the Bill in New Delhi on Tuesday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Sonowal and Sarma also attended the meeting.
However, it failed to convince the participants who made it clear that they would not accept the enforcement of any law on the people of Assam. Meanwhile, a series of protests are being held in different areas of Assam against the Bill.