North-eastern quagmire

The CAA has added to the complexities of settling the question of who is an “illegal migrant” in the north-eastern region. Defining who is indigenous in each State there is expected to be a new political puzzle.

- SUSHANTA TALUKDAR

THE MOVEMENT AGAINST THE CITIZENSHIP (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, has swelled across the country on the singular threat of determination and grant of citizenship on the basis of religion. InAssamand other north-eastern States, the threat of loss of linguistic and cultural identities of indigenous communities, which became the basis for the agitation, has now been compounded by the threat of determination of citizenship on religious lines.

Unlike in the rest of India where the “no NRC” chorus is growing louder after the Citizenship (Amendment)Bill (CAB) was enacted, the majority of the people in Assam have been saying no to the Act in order to defend the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the 1985 Assam Accord. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sangh Parivar, however, support the CAA while seeking the rejection of the updated NRC in the State. The updated citizens’ register validates the Assam Accord and the cut-off date ofMarch 24, 1971, for identification, disenfranchisement, and expulsion of “illegal migrants” in the State.

Besides the religion of the immigrants, the cut-off date of December 31, 2014, in the Act has sparked off mass resistance in Assam as it violates the cut-off date provided in the Assam Accord. Therefore, making the CAA secular by including Muslims in the list of persecuted immigrants is not going to address the problem. Rather, it will turn catastrophic for Assam as it will result in burdening the State with “illegal migrants”, not just those belonging to Hindu and other non-Muslim communities but also Muslims from the period between 1971 and 2014 and beyond.