CAB is back

It is very unfortunate that the BJP-led dispensation at the Centre has adopted such an adamant stand on passing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, notwithstanding the wave of protests across the Northeastern region. The Centre has already listed the Bill for introduction and passage in the Lok Sabha. The controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is among the 27 Bills that the Narendra Modi government has proposed to bring during the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament that gets under way on Monday.

According to the advance bulletin circulated by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the government has listed the CAB in order — “To amend the definition of illegal migrant, reduction in the number of years of residency period to obtain Indian citizenship through naturalisation and to empower the Central government to cancel the registration of Overseas Citizen of India card in case of any violations. Introduction, consideration and passing.” While the Bill envisages protection of Hindu migrants who have fled the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan because of religious persecution, it also proposes a cut-off date of December 31, 2014 — in the process making the Assam Accord redundant. The Centre’s adamant attitude has already agitated most of the organisations across the region, irrespective of whether they are political or apolitical in nature.

The apex bodies of students of Assam and the Northeast — the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the North East Students Organization (NESO) respectively — have meanwhile warned the Central government against “forcefully imposing” the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill in the region. The NESO has also called for protest rallies against the Bill in the region’s State capitals on Tuesday. It is a fact that CAB is in favour of the illegal migrants who are present in large numbers across Assam and the Northeastern region, and the NRC itself is one document to prove this. This is the reason why the organizations of indigenous ethnic communities have been agitating against it. The NESO on its part has called the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill unconstitutional. According to NESO, this Bill will threaten the languages and cultures of the indigenous communities of the Northeast. If the Central government forcefully imposes Citizenship Amendment Bill in NE, it will psychologically cut off the people of the Northeastern States from the Indian mainstream, NESO has quite rightfully apprehended. That exactly is why the NESO leaders have raised questions like — why do the leaders in Delhi deem the eastern border of India to be only till West Bengal?

Why do they forget that Northeast India is also an integral part of India? Meanwhile, senior Assam minister and the region’s most influential BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will solve the citizenship issue of 4 to 5 lakh people in Assam. According to Sarma, the government will be able to give the break-up of these ‘four to five lakh people’ in the ensuing Winter Session of Assam Assembly. Out of the total people to be benefitted from CAB, 2 lakh are living in Barak Valley, he has claimed, adding that once the problem of these people is solved, Assam will be able to march ahead on the path of progress. According to Sarma, the new draft of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will be different from the earlier one, and will have provisions to ensure that the unique cultural and ethnic identities of the communities of the Northeast are not endangered due to enactment of the proposed Bill.

Sarma however has not outlined how the passing of the proposed Bill is not going to adversely impact upon the Assamese, Bodo and other languages of the region. One must always keep in mind the fact that a conspiracy has been there since early nineteenth century to dislodge the Assamese language in her own State. The present generation of Assamese, and of all other indigenous communities of the Northeast, should always keep in mind that Assamese was replaced by Bengali in Assam in 1837 and it took nearly four decades to restore it to its rightful position. The situation is much more different and difficult now. And what is most worrisome is that the BJP-led government has not been able to understand the mind of the people of this region.