The temperature may be dipping in Assam, but the political heat is rising as the politics of citizenship is set to reach a climax when the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) will see the light of the day on December 31.
Against the backdrop of a bitter struggle between the 'natives and aliens' since the early eighties, people are waiting with bated breath to finish off the issue once and for all.
Having one’s name in the NRC is supposed to be the ultimate and invincible proof of his/her being an Indian national. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which has been spearheading the anti-foreigner movement all along, is pinning their hopes on the NRC to segregate the illegal immigrants from the genuine citizens.
Expectedly, there are fears among a large section of the Bengali-speaking Muslims of erstwhile East Bengal (now Bangladesh), whether their names will figure in the draft NRC or not. And if not what will happen to them.
Mians as the Bengali-speaking Muslim immigrants are scornfully called in Assam are a worried lot. “Do you think we will meet the same fate as the Rohingyas in Myanmar or worse ?” they ask.
Indeed the situation is volatile in the char or riverine areas where there are large settlements of migrant population.
When the draft NRC will be out on December 31 midnight, about 2.38 crore names will figure in the list. That will leave about 76 lakh people out of the draft NRC.
According to officials involved in the NRC, this is because doubts have been raised in as many as 47 lakh cases over parental linkages. And decisions in 29 lakh cases, mostly pertaining to married women, have been kept pending as they had submitted certificates issued by Panchayat secretaries to support their citizenship, which has been struck down by the Gauhati High Court. The High Court's decision was later set aside by the Supreme Court.
It was in this backdrop that Attorney General K.K. Venugopal had observed before the Supreme Court that part publication of the draft NRC could result in a law and order situation as a large segment of the people would think that their names have been excluded.
The Supreme Court Bench, however, rejected Venugopal’s argument, saying, “We do not see how the aforesaid situation can even remotely arise as we have already indicated in the earlier part of the present order that claims of 47 lakh persons and 29 lakh, mostly married women, are still pending and would be subject to verification and covered by publication of another draft NRC…”
But, in a charged atmosphere, such legalese may fail to make people see reason because there are illegal migrants who need to be identified, and there are definitely genuine citizens bracketed as aliens. What naturally follows this kind of fear is bitter politics.
Seized of the situation, an apprehensive state government, with the help of the Centre is mobilising forces to keep people in check.
Some reports say the Assam government, led by Sarbananda Sonowal of the BJP, who had earlier actively participated in the Assam agitation as the AASU president, is planning massive troop deployment. At least 50 additional para-military companies will back up the state police and the Army has been asked to be kept on standby. But according to state government officials, these are normal administrative precautions ahead of any important announcement—in this case, the release of the draft NRC on December 31 midnight.
Such precautionary measures have been hailed by the people, given the bitter political engineering by religious fanatics. For instance, Jamiat Ulema-E-Hind leader Maulana Syed Arshad Madani said at a seminar in New Delhi recently that Assam would burn, and that there could be killings and retaliation if 50 lakh Muslims are left out from having their names in the NRC.
Perhaps such fears are being articulated by controversial leaders like Madani because of certain cases of alleged harassment of people by officials during the verification process.
As per the Assam Accord signed in December 1985, ending the six-year long Assam agitation against the illegal immigrants of all hues—both Hindus and Muslims, the cut-off date for claims to Indian citizenship is 24 March 1971.
Those who have entered Assam after the cut-off date will be deemed to be illegal immigrants whose names will not figure in the soon-to-be released updated NRC.
The National Human Rights Commission ( NHRC) has gone on to issue a notice to the Assam Chief Secretary after taking suo moto cognisance of the allegations about the harassment. “The allegations that in the name of verification, the poor people are being subjected to harassment and humiliation is a matter of concern for the Commission...” an NHRC statement said.
As things stand, the brand-new NRC may not really resolve much, but certainly promise to heat up Assam’s socio-political firmament. That would mean there could be more elections to be won or lost in the state over the murky politics of citizenship.
Jati, mati, bheti or identity, land, homesteads was the catchphrase of the last Assembly elections in Assam in 2016, which propelled the BJP to power.
