By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter
The government must pledge to the Assam Accord of 1985 and decide citizenship rights accordingly, Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind said on May 2 at a press conference in Delhi.
Condemning the treatment of foreigners on religious line and terming it as ‘state-sponsored communalism’, Maulana Mahmood Madani said that Jamiat had always supported composite nationalism and opposed two nation theory. “How can any government welcome Hindu and denounce Muslim in the same issue and same case? If there are foreigners, they should be ousted forthwith but we will not tolerate harassment to the genuine citizens,” he said.
Maulana Badruddin Ajmal said that the Assam State Jamiat Ulama has taken a strong stand to defend the Assam Accord-1985 in the Supreme Court and engaged a team of lawyers for the same.
As per the instruction of the Supreme Court, JUH has filed written submissions and produced all relevant documents before in the Supreme Court on 01/05/2017.
It must be pointed out that the Assam Accord had been executed by Rajiv Gandhi-led Central Government in 1985 which guaranteed that those who came and settled in Assam till 25/3/1971, would be treated as Indian citizens. Accordingly, Citizenship Act 1955 was amended by the Parliament and section 6-A was included. However, this decision was challenged and it was claimed that instead of that cutoff date i.e. 25/3/1971, the base year should be 1951, to decide the citizenship of people in Assam. It also challenged the validity of Assam Accord-1985 claiming it as unconstitutional and claimed National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be updated with 1951 in the base year.
The cases were earlier before Division Bench of Supreme Court which raised 13 questions on Assam Accord and asked defending parties to file answers in the Court. Later, the cases were shifted to Constriction Bench of Supreme Court comprising of five judges. The Constitution Bench directed all the parties to submit a written submission and connected documents on or before 01/05/2017.
The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind said it has submitted answers to those 13 questions and produced all relevant documents before the Supreme Court on 01/05/2017.
The final hearings of the connected cases have been fixed on and from 8th May 2017 before a Constitution Bench comprising of five judges. The outcome of which shall affect many lakhs of people.