The Lok Sabha passed on Tuesday the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill amid a walkout by several Opposition parties, including the Congress and Trinamool Congress. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who piloted the Bill, said the proposed amendments in the law were not against the provisions of the Constitution and would provide succour to persecuted minorities in the three neighbouring countries. Several Opposition members, including those from the Trinamool Congress, Congress and Left parties, said the Bill was potentially divisive, and would push demographically sensitive Assam and West Bengal.
All northeastern states witnessed chaos over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. As the situation turned grim, police in Dibrugarh resorted to lathi charge, tear gas and firing rubber bullets to disperse protestors vandalising properties.
Meanwhile, all of Assam — barring the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley — supported the All Assam Students’ Union's (AASU's) call for a total shutdown, as streets wore a deserted look across the state.
Rajnath Singh on Wednesday addressed the Rajya Sabha on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Here's what he said:
— We respect the Assam Accord and the interests and culture of the Assamese population will be protected, Rajnath assured the House.
— Rajnath Singh said that the government was aware of the situation in Northeast.
Impact of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
Sporadic cases of violence were reported from Assam and Tripura and life came to a halt in most northeastern states, as student bodies enforced a shutdown in protest over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
In Tripura, where the effect of the shutdown was limited to tribal areas, the state government imposed prohibitory orders and a 48-hour ban on SMS and mobile data services. This was after as many as seven persons were injured in a clash in Madhabbari in Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.
AASU, the influential student body which was at the forefront of the Assam agitation against foreigners, is leading the protest against the proposed amendment which, according to them, violates the Assam Accord which promised to detect and deport foreigners irrespective of their religious background.
As a mark of protest, the families of the 855 martyrs of the Assam agitation decided to return the mementoes they had received in 2016 from the state government.
As many as 1,690 people were detained in Assam by the police as most towns and cities barring the ones in the Barak valley wore a deserted look.
What is Citizenship (Amendment) Bill?
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill provides granting Indian citizenship to the Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India, instead of the present 12 years, even if they do not possess any document. The Bill stretches the cutoff date for granting citizenship to December 31, 2014, from March 24, 1971 as mentioned in the 1985 Assam Accord.
The Bill was originally introduced in 2016 and was later sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which submitted its report on Monday. On the basis of the recommendations of the JPC, a fresh Bill was introduced on Tuesday and passed by the Lok Sabha.
What do the protestors say
Protesters say the Bill will nullify the 1985 Assam Accord, under which any foreign national, irrespective of religion, who entered the state after March 24, 1971, should be deported. In Assam, illegal migrants are not identified along religious lines and people want such migrants from Bangladesh, both Muslims and Hindus, who are incidentally Bengali-speaking, to be deported. The Assamese fear that illegal migrants from Bangladesh pose a threat to their cultural and linguistic identity.
BJP on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill?
Assam's finance minister and BJP's main strategist for Northeast, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said: "At least 17 districts in Assam will go the 'Jinnah way'". He added that the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being done to "drive out the Jinnahs", in an apparent reference to the Muslims of Bengali origin residing in Assam.
"This is a fight between the legacy of Jinnah and India. The NRC is a process to weed out the Jinnahs. If we do not implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, then Badruddin Ajmal will become chief minister and if there is no Citizenship Bill, at least 17 seats will go to the Jinnahs," said Sarma.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said all efforts were being made keeping in mind the interests of Assam and the nation. He said the government had also taken steps with regard to Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. “The burden will be shared by the entire nation...,” Singh said. The minister tried to blame the root of the refugee exodus from neighbouring nations to the “religion-based partition of India” and rolled out the term Akhand Bharat (United India).