NRC doublespeak

The NRC update exercise in Assam is showing up political parties in their true colors. The latest is Bharatiya Janata Party which has assumed the mantle of defender of NRC, in fact upping the ante by demanding updated NRCs in West Bengal and other States to find out “who are citizens and who are aliens”. The saffron party at the same time has promised that those seeking asylum in India (read Hindus fleeing religious persecution) will be granted citizenship in this country. Blowing the poll bugle in West Bengal, BJP national president Amit Shah recently said at a rally in Kolkata that the NDA, if re-elected at the Centre, will ensure a correct NRC in Assam and “peacefully send back” Bangladeshi infiltrators. In the same breath, Shah asserted that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will be enacted and Hindu refugees from neighbouring countries will get citizenship. Pointing to Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee’s histrionics in Parliament in 2005 against the Left Front using Bangladeshi votebank to hold power in West Bengal, Shah asked sarcastically whether Banerjee’s U-turn means her party is now capitalising on that “same votebank”. The entire content and tenor of Shah’s speech reveals his party’s gameplan that while NRC update should reveal the numbers of Bangladeshi Muslims in India, Bangladeshi Hindus are another matter. On earlier occasions too, the BJP has differentiated between Bangladeshi Muslims as ‘economic migrants’ and Bangladeshi Hindus as ‘refugees’, thereby justifying differential approach and treatment to these two groups. This is problematic so far as Assam is concerned, given its composite society, culture and ethos. The All Assam Students Union (AASU) has already reacted against Shah’s prescription, because it threatens to render meaningless the Assam Accord. A principled stand has been taken by various regional and civil society groups since the days of Assam Agitation that this State will not put up with divisive, communal agendas. Assam has posed questions to the country — should political dispensations be allowed to manipulate citizenship laws to turn hordes of foreigners into votebanks, and is it reasonable to expect a State to shoulder the entire burden of hosting such foreigners numbering in millions? Thus far, only the courts have been seized with the constitutional dimensions of Assam’s foreigner problem. Independent observers have been concerned about this unfolding humanitarian crisis — of indigenous peoples being reduced to minorities in their homeland, as well as what to do with millions of foreigners. If they cannot be repatriated to their countries of origin in the absence of any treaty, it is being asked whether they can be given work permits and acceptable status. Surely a sincere, well-informed discourse is the only way to make a beginning somewhere and get to grips with this problem. But political parties continue to make a virtue of playing cynical politics with it, depending on where each party sees its votes. The Congress has been tying itself up into knots over the NRC, anxious to claim credit for the exercise while undermining it, its leaders contradicting one another. This is hardly surprising if we only recall how the party backpedalled over NRC and did its best to sabotage it for years, all the while swearing by it! Trinamool’s rank political opportunism over NRC also lies thoroughly exposed, its anxiety all too apparent in preventing BJP from consolidating Hindu Bangladeshi votes in West Bengal. On its part, it is but typical of the BJP to dumb it down into a Hindu-Muslim question and pander to its votebank. The people of Assam cannot subscribe to this kind of dangerous logic. When it concerns the NRC and the citizenship law, they must remain vigilant and see through all political doublespeak and duplicity.

Toll gate impasse

T he talks held between Nagaon district administration and organisations opposing the reopening of Raha toll gate on NH 37 have been inconclusive so far. In an election year, it remains to be seen how far the State government will push this issue. But this is not the last we have heard of it, that is for sure. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) says that if people want good roads, they must be willing to pay for it. Budgetary allocations by the government simply does not cover road building costs, and NHAI envisages as many as 11 toll gates in the construction of 649 kms of highway in the State. But when the NHAI insists that road repair too is not possible without taxing users first, it sparks more public anger — considering the horrendous state of key highways in Assam and lack of alternative roads. Protesting groups including KMSS and AASU have been pointing out that more than 40 percent work of the four-lane highway through Raha remains to be completed, so it is not justified to impose user charges. There is no sign of other roadside amenities either, like waiting sheds, truck and bus terminuses, metal crash barriers, safety devices, roadside cranes and emergency call booths. Other ways to raise money for highway building have been discussed across the country, like raising private vehicle registration fees, increasing fuel cess and better use of motor vehicle tax. Three years back, the Supreme Court had taken the Central government to task over collection of toll tax for using national highways despite some of these being in very bad shape. “Can you ask people to pay money for bad roads? You should first see that roads can provide convenient travel and then only toll tax can be levied,” observed an SC bench led by then Chief Justice TS Thakur. It is a question highway users in Assam too would like to pose to NHAI authority.