Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net
Guwahati: Political parties, students’ bodies and civilians have slammed the Narendra Modi-led NDA government for its decision to grant Indian citizenship to all the non-Muslims immigrants who arrived before December 2014.
This decision has been criticized as anti-constitutional and against the interest of the people of Assam. All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the apex students’ body of the region has carried out protest rallies across the state.
Former Assam chief minister and one of the signatories of Assam Accord Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has appealed all to oppose the ordinance. In this regard, Mahanta has invited all the participants of Assam Agitation to form an opinion.
AASU torch rally protesting the ordinance in Guwahati
“This a dangerous development for the people of the state. With this Assam is going to suffer the most. The indigenous people of the state will lose their rights. This development has disobeyed the Assam Accord and disrespect to the sacrifice of 855 martyrs,” Mahanta told reporters.
The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi following a bloody Assam agitation where 855 agitators of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) lost their lives. This Assam Accord says that anyone who has entered the Indian Territory after March 25 in 1971 is an illegal citizen barring their religion, caste and creed.
“This is not at all acceptable. We condemn the central government for disobeying the Assam Accord. We will carry out agitation against this decision across the state,” said AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya.
Earlier, the central government had decided, on humanitarian considerations, to exempt Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities who have entered India on or before December 31 2014 from the relevant provisions of rules under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946, in respect of their entry and stay in India without such documents or after the expiry of those documents, as the case may be.
The central government has accordingly issued two notifications in the Official Gazette earlier this week under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946.
There are reports that a number of Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities in those countries, such as Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists, were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fears of religious persecution. They have entered India either without any valid document including passport/ other travel document or with valid documents but the validity of such document has expired, said the release issued by the Press Information Bureau.
“We have already accepted many after the accord. Now, there is no point of accepting more immigrants. Why should Assam alone will bear the burnt? And the most serious issue here is that the government has divided the immigrants in the name of religion which is not acceptable,” Bhattacharyya added.
Terming the development as ‘cheating’ the people of the state, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leadership said that this could lead to a dangerous future. AGP general secretary Ramendra Narayan Kalita said that the AGP will try its best to stop it.
“This is highly condemnable. This decision is going to spread communal hatred among the people. For us a foreigner should not be categorized by his or her religion or caste. This is anti-constitutional and anti-Assam,” said Kalita.
The AGP leadership also said of the Assam Accord. “Now, this is impossible and how the Narendra Modi led government can do it on the basis of religion,” Kalita added.
The AGP leadership has also slammed Assam’s governor, PB Acharya, for behaving like a BJP leader. “We respect the governor for being the constitutional head of the state. But of late, we have noticed that he has started to behave like a BJP leader. He has no rights to insult the people of Assam by violating the Assam accord,” Kalita said.
There are other concerns too, which can potentially hamper the state in the coming days. Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad (CCSP), a literary body of the state, has expressed concern that this development might change the future of the state.
CCSP believes that the ordinance has other repercussions too. “As a result of this, the Assam Accord has been made null and void. Moreover, updation of NRC has also been turned into a futile exercise. We are afraid that Assamese may not remain the state language of Assam, if this ordinance is implemented,” said Hafiz Ahmed, president of CCSP.
Ahmed said that Assamese speaking people in Assam in 1931 constituted 36 percent of the people, which increased to 62 percent in 1961 which is the highest so far. In 1971 it recorded 60.89 percent before falling to 57.8 percent in 199. In 2001, it was 48.80 percent.
The language data of 2011 census is yet to be published. According to the data from the official sources, it is only 42 percent.
Whereas, the Bengali speaking people in Assam in 1971 was 19.88 percent and 21.67 percent in 1991 besides 27.54 percent in 2001. And the projected percentage of Bengali speakers in 2011 is said to be 33 percent.
“After granting citizenship to all the Hindu foreigners what will be the number of the Bengali and Assamese speaking people in Assam. Will Assamese remain the state language of Assam?” said Ahmed.
To address this issue in a proper way, Prafulla Mahanta is also planning to organize a state wide convention where the participants of Assam agitation from all parts of the state will join and share their views before coming to a conclusion.
“The date is yet to be finalized. After knowing the views, we will approach the Prime Minister in this regard,” Mahanta added.