Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha demands Prime Minister to give passport to Nepali citizens

GUWAHATI: The Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha has moved Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the introduction of the provision of passport and visas for Nepali citizens living in the State.

In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister on Monday, the Mahasangha said besides illegal influx from Bangladesh for the past few decades, a “silent invasion” by people from neighbouring Nepal has also been going on “unchecked, undeterred” and that “Nepali foreigners should be treated like Bangladeshi infiltrators”.

The Mahasangha, a confederation of indigenous people of Assam, has demanded the Centre to remove the names of all Nepali people, who entered Assam after 1950, from the electoral rolls, census reports and the National Register of Citizens. It has also demanded that such Nepali people must be barred from land and political rights, jobs and business opportunities.

The development has come close on the heels of the Union Home Ministry, in a communication to the Assam government, has said that members of the Gorkha community who were Indian citizens at the time of commencement of the Constitution, or those who are Indian citizens by birth, or those who acquired Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization in accordance with the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955, are not “foreigners.”

Demanding scrapping of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950 the memorandum stated that all Nepali people who entered Assam after 1950 should not have voting rights and should not be allowed as candidates in any election from any political party. The Indo-Nepal treaty permits free movement of people between India and Nepal and allows them to own property, participate in trade and commerce and enjoy other privileges.

The Mahasangha also submitted copies of the memorandum to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and MHA Joint Secretary (Northeast) Satyendra Garg.