The Aliens’ Issue

Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will doubtless be hailed by one and all for opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and for dubbing it a “betrayal on the part of the BJP government to settle foreigners in Assam by passing the controversial Bill.” There can be no two opinions about the great harm that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is going to do to Assam and its people. He has also castigated the State government for “failing to safeguard the interests of the indigenous people by supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.” What is certainly astonishing is that such arbitrary and ham-fisted actions in total disregard of the people of a State can be taken by the Centre in a federal set-up. Here is a case of the Centre thrusting on a State an initiative that has been consistently opposed by the people as being totally destructive for Assam and everything that is cherished by its people. This goes totally against the very spirit of democracy and constitutes a wanton violation of the will of the people for electoral gains alone. This is the last thing that should have happened in the world’s largest democracy, considering that many young democracies and emerging ones are bound to regard such perverse actions as being both normal and legitimate for democratic countries.

There is no denying that similar situations are encountered in other parts of the world as well and that there is a tendency among politicians all over the world to look the other way when gross irregularities are encountered in demographic changes that are closely linked to electoral benefits. It is in this context that the remarks of Tarun Gogoi about what is right and what is not in such situations must be assessed. The present issue is about the BJP’s determination to grant citizenship to Hindus and other minorities in other countries who migrate to India. If the grant of Indian citizenship to such migrants is viewed as an easy way of creating a larger vote bank, this exercise has gone on quietly in Assam even during the Congress regime. Official records reveal how the vote bank in Assam has grown over the years in rather astonishing ways. In fact, the grant of voting rights to illegal migrants from Bangladesh has been going on for decades and has been very pronounced during the years of Congress rule. Tarun Gogoi had 15 years as Chief Minister of Assam, and the task of at least granting voting rights (if not Indian citizenship) to illegal migrants from Bangladesh picked up momentum during those years. This is a development that should not be viewed in isolation. It should be assessed together with the firm determination of the Congress to resist any attempt at demographic enumeration of any kind in the State despite the attempts of the Centre. This resistance had been so strong that eventually the Supreme Court had to take a hand in the matter by monitoring the updating of the National Register of Citizens in Assam. Had the Supreme Court not taken a firm stand in the matter, the major problem of identifying illegal foreign migrants in Assam would have remained unaddressed to the immense satisfaction of some political parties like the Congress that are more concerned about illegal electoral advantages than the security and integrity of the country. It is hardly surprising that other States of the Northeast too have begun to appreciate the advantages of a demographic exercise like the updating of the NRC and demanded that a similar exercise should be carried out in the other States of the Northeast too. People tend to talk about short memories in political circles because short memories provide great advantages. One can well imagine how politicians in Assam wish that people had even shorter memories than they do. They would perhaps have forgotten more readily the role of the Congress in swelling the vote bank of Assam with illegal migrants from Bangladesh in a matter of just four or five decades.