“Citizenship is an attitude, a state of mind, an emotional conviction that the whole is greater than the part. and that the part should be humbly proud to sacrifice itself that the whole may live.”

-Robert A. Heinlein

 With the  introduction of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the National Register of Citizens (NRC)  various debates and controversies have sparked in. There have been massive resistance movements and protests throughout the country and even overseas. Citizenship as discussed above instills a feeling of oneness among people and assures them of their rights enshrined to the citizens by the laws of the nation. But citizenship alone cannot assure a person a comfortable living. India is known for its diversity where people hold pride in their unique identity as a community- be it linguistic or cultural practices. This gives them an identity as it is a part of who they are and has been passed to them. People protect their cultures through intellectual property rights as it is their culture which helps people get an identity. The article shall delineate upon how these amendments in various statutes have affected the status of Citizenship of people in Assam, its culture, and the socio-economic conditions.

The CCA Act provides that illegal migrants who fulfill four conditions will not be treated as illegal migrants under the Act.  The conditions are: (a) they are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians; (b) they are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan; (c) they entered India on or before December 31, 2014; (d) they are not in  certain tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, or Tripura included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, or areas under the “Inner Line” permit, i.e., Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland.[1]Assam for long has been facing the issue of illegal immigrants sharing its border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Myanmar. In the year 1951, a register was created based on the data collected during the 1951 census. But no future endeavors were made after 1951 to maintain this register to deal with the issue of illegal immigrants in Assam. The Assam Accord was signed at the end of a six-year agitation (1979-85) against illegal migration from Bangladesh. During this period it was feared that Bengali Muslim and Hindu communities and foreign migrants would be more than the indigenous population and would thus undermine their culture. The accord had thus set  24 March 1971, as the cut-off year to be considered as citizens for illegal foreign migrants. Also in the year 1983The Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) The Act was passed to create a process that would help identify illegal immigrants in Assam by the year 2005 the Act was struck down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India as unconstitutional. Thereafter, the government of India agreed to maintain the National Register of Citizens (NCR). Also in 2003 Citizenship Rules, 2003 were introduced which provided the central government the authority to order preparation of NRC for any state. Even after all these legal measures no stringent measures were being taken to maintain the NRC or to control the issue of illegal immigrants. In 2013, Assam Public Works and Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha &Ors filed a Writ Petition before the Supreme Court demanding the deletion of illegal migrants' names from voter lists in Assam.[2] Taking the scenario and the writ in the picture the Hon’ble Supreme Court directed the government for an updated list in the NRC in compliance with Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship Rules, 2003. In the year 2019, a list was finally released which made it evident that a total of 1.9 million applications did not qualify to be registered under the NRC. But there was a lot of rebel against this list as it was believed that the data of this list was incorrect and misleading where the people qualifying for the list have not been added and vice versa. However, Residents excluded from the list can appeal to the specially formed courts called Foreigners Tribunals, as well as the high court and Supreme Court.[3] But this would be a tiresome elongated process, leaving in abeyance legal citizens who may fail to make to the final list or don't possess requisite documents.

The NRC was made to identify and deport illegal immigrants but the published list proved to the contrary where citizenship was denied to Hindus and indigenous people. Moreover, the people in Assam in 2019 believed that the CAA would make the condition worse. The only safeguard they had was Asom Gana Parishad Clause 6 which relates to constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve, and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.[4]Thus committees were formed to deliberate on the issues and after due consideration, it has been decided that those migrants who were present in the state before the year 1951 or can prove that their ancestors were present in the country before 1951 can be given the status of citizens in the country and the status of Assamese would be given. Also, those who came after the year 1951 but before the cut-off of March 24, 1971 would be eligible to be citizens of India but not given the status of the Assamese. Moreover, it was decided that to recognize the culture and rights of the indigenous people reservation should be given to these people. 


Conclusion:

While the NCR dealt with the issue of illegal immigrants, it instilled in the people fear and trepidation as to whether they would make it to the list or their entire life would be uprooted. While the people coming between 1951 and 1971 would not be given the status of Assamese it would be a matter of grave concern about their future in the nation. There would be impediments for those who have not made it in the 2019 list to prove their origin in the state before the year 1951 since finding such old dated records would be an arduous job. Thus the future of millions of people in Assam is at stake to protect the heritage and culture of a group of people, including those who are actually a part of that heritage but are unable to prove it. The committees formed should thus work towards finding a suitable living for those displaced as it would be inhumane to leave millions stranded.

This article is authored by Ms. Roshni Kapoor, Research Assistant, Advance Research & Innovation in Law Division, MyLawman and edited by Ms. Samreen Ahmed.

*Views expressed here are purely personal.


[1]The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 available at: https://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/citizenship-amendment-bill-2019#:~:text=Subsequently%2C%20the%20Citizenship%20(Amendment),and%20Pakistan%2C%20eligible%20for%20citizenship. (Last Visited on August 16, 2020)

 

[2]What is NRC?, available at https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/what-is-nrc-all-you-need-to-know-about-national-register-of-citizens-1629195-2019-12-18(Last Visited on August 16, 2020)

[3]Assam NRC: What next for 1.9 million 'stateless' Indians, available at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49520593 (Last Visited on August 16, 2020)

 

[4]What is Assam protesting?, available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/et-explains/citizenship-bill-why-is-assam-protesting/articleshow/72483294.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst (Last Visited on August 16, 2020)