Say 'No' to amending Citizenship Act

Say 'No' to amending Citizenship Act

If I go through the Facebook posts of my friends, I observe that the main issues being discussed are vegetarianism, reservations for additiol tribes of Assam, bandh culture and a plethora of poems beautifully written. Among all these, there is a reference to the amendment of the Citizenship Act by a retired bureaucrat of Assam that the public outcry against the proposed bill is a 'noise ' and the critics of the bill are merely trying to grab space in the limelight.

There are 1.7 crore Hindus in Bangladesh constituting 10.7 per cent of that country's population. The proposed bill to amend the Citizenship Act would open the doors to 1.7 crore Hindus in Bangladesh , who can simply land in India, claiming citizenship of this country. Assuming even if 30 per cent of 1.7 crore Hindus decide to come in, that means 51 lakh and again assuming that the influx is distributed equally between Assam and Bengal, we are talking of 25 lakh additiol Bengali Hindus in Assam. Even for those in Dispur and their followers, it should be evident that Assamese culture, language and economy would receive a permanent setback. Today we have 24 lakh unemployed youth and the government is struggling to create jobs. Is the government sanguine that additiol jobs can be created? Just yesterday a young graduate came to my house to drive my car as part time. Is this the future we are planning for our children?

I am indeed concerned about the total indifference of the general public to the looming crisis: as in a flood, everyone is trying to keep afloat somehow. The opium of the masses, mainly festivities and our melodious music, is obscuring the eventuality of being a minority in our own homeland. Thus it is all the more urgent that we wake up to the tsumi ahead.

Lastly, the granting of citizenship to D category voters is one thing and giving a blank cheque of citizenship is another. In case of D voters, it is a finite number but in case the amendment passes, the number could be infinite. I appeal to all our elected representatives to stand up and take a stand. Now is the time. Please oppose the bill and protect the future of our coming generations.

Anjan Barua,

Guwahati.