Assam protest over Hindu Bangladeshi migrant notification intensifies

Protests by ethnic organisations have intensified in the Indian state of Assam after New Delhi issued a notification allowing Hindu Bangladeshis to live without documents.

Dilip Kumar Shama, from Guwahatibdnews24.com

Published : 13 Sept 2015, 07:25 PM

Updated : 13 Sept 2015, 08:36 PM

Last Saturday, 12 ethnic bodies including the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) called a 12-hour Assam bandh (shutdown), disrupting life in the northern state.

AJYCP protesters said Assam would not be able to bear the burden of additional migrants and that the decision was "an insult to the Assam movement, Assam Accord and also to the people of Assam".

The central government move is also being opposed by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), whose leader, Akhil Gogoi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had no affinity with the sentiments of the Assamese people.

He, however, reiterated that the Modi government should realise that Assam was not a ‘dumping ground’ of foreigners and demanded the immediate revocation of the decision.

On the other hand, regional political party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has threatened to launch an intense agitation over the Hindu Bangladeshi issue.

The party president has, in a statement, talked of initiating a protest movement.

Photo: Dasrath Deka

The AGP, which formed the government for two terms in Assam, had been established to drive out illegal foreigners from the state. But the party failed to implement the clauses of the Assam Accord.

In spite of the protest, the BJP state unit, All Assam Bengali Youth Students’ Federation, the All BTC Bengali Youth Students' Federation and several organisations active in the Barak valley have welcomed the Modi government’s decision.

‘Ranju’, 33, calls herself a permanent resident of West Bengal, although her family had migrated to Guwahati many years ago in search of employment.

She works as a maid in Guwahati, while her husband is a daily-wage labourer. She has heard of incidents of illegal Bangladeshi citizens being arrested in Assam, making her occasionally feel nervous.

In Assam, her family has no government documents to prove their nationality.

When asked, she said there was a lot of commotion over Bangladeshis in Assam. So, where can she turn for help, she asks.

Ranju has heard about Hindu Bangladeshis being given Indian citizenship but claims she is already a citizen here. According to him, the poor are being harassed.

There have been several cases in Assam where the entire families, though Indian citizens, were branded illegal and put in detention camps. It was only through court rulings that they were released.

The emotive foreigners issue in the state gave birth to the Assam movement in 1979.

Photo: Dasrath Deka

Hundreds of people were killed during the movement, which continued for nearly six years before the Government of India and the All Assam Students Organisation signed the historic Assam Accord in 1985.

The Assam Accord had stated Mar 24, 1971 would be the cut-off year for detection and deportation of foreigners.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being updated in Assam, keeping in mind the provisos of the Assam Accord.

According to Assam Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya, after the NRC is updated, the names of all illegal citizens will be deleted from the voter list.

Social activist Debajit Buragohain regretted that even after so many years of the Assam movement, the foreigners issue remained unresolved.

After the notification, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi initially welcomed the central government's decision but later said, in the face of increasing protests, the Modi government should have sought the state government’s opinion.

The Indian government has decided, on humanitarian considerations, to exempt Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities who entered India on or before Dec 31, 2014, in respect of their entry and stay in India without proper documents or after the expiry of relevant document.