By Nava Thakuria 17 October 2019
As the Indian government has decided to screen all illegal migrants taking shelter in India by updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for a nationwide database of “genuine citizens” – and thereby detect illegal aliens – one can apprehend more chaos and confusion across the country in future, with repercussions on the country’s ties with Bangladesh. Gradually, the demand for NRC updation, similar to that of Assam, has gained momentum across several Indian states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wish for a countrywide NRC updation has been supported by BJP leaders from Karnataka, Tripura, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, among others. Hardliner nationalist politicians from various states, mostly ruled by the Hindu-centric Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), have come out openly in favour of the NRC updation process, which finally inspired Home Minister Amit Shah to declare that the central government would introduce it across the country. President Ram Nath Kovind, in an address to Parliament, said that New Delhi was aware of the security threat because of “illegal infiltrators” and hence the government was interested in implementing the NRC across India, so that illegal immigrants could be identified and appropriate actions taken under the law, though what action the government plans to take against the aliens has not been specified.
In West Bengal, though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vehemently opposes the NRC process, the central government continues to pursue it.
The recently concluded massive NRC updating process has put Assam in the international media spotlight as over 1.9 million people were excluded from the final NRC list as recognized citizens in the state. Comprising mostly Bengali-speaking Muslim and also Hindu nationals, the excluded individuals – dubbed “foreigners” – now have to wait for the verdict of the ‘foreigner tribunals’ and subsequent higher court orders.
The purpose of updating the NRC is primarily to prepare a list of authentic Indian citizens. The hectic process in Assam was meant to identify the illegal migrants residing in the state since 25 March 1971. It was mandatory for every resident of Assam to apply to be included in the updated NRC. Directed and monitored by the Supreme Court, the process witnessed the participation of 33,027,661 applicants. The individuals, who (or their descendants) appear in the 1951 NRC, voters’ lists or other relevant government documents issued prior to the midnight of 24 March 1971 were included.
The prescribed cut-off date (25 March 1971) is taken from the historic Assam Accord, signed in 1985 by the Union government with leaders of the six year-long anti-foreigners movement, in the presence of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The accord reposed responsibility on the government to detect and deport all migrants (read East Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals), who entered Assam after the cut-off date. After two drafts of NRC, the final one was released on 31 August, after the apex court denied any more time for re-verification of the list.
The final NRC thus excludes 1,906,657 people, most of whom may be declared as “foreigners” after exhausting judicial processes. Once the final NRC was declared, only a few outfits found it satisfactory while most mainstream organizations expressed dissatisfaction, alleging errors in the exclusion of indigenous families and inclusion of illegal migrants.
The ruling BJP has declared that it would go to the apex court with an appeal for reviewing the NRC. The saffron party’s regional ally, Asom Gana Parishad, also issued a statement that the final NRC could not bring relief to the indigenous population of Assam.
The emphasis of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideologue of the ruling BJP, is very clear. They state that no Hindu (or Buddhist, Jain, Sikh or Christian) families should face expulsion from the country. There is no mention of Muslims as they are considered an invading and an alien community who have no ‘belonging’ to India’s ethos and cultural heritage. The answer to such initiatives would be driven by the citizenship amendment bill, which is expected to be tabled later this year and pushed through both Houses of Parliament to safeguard their political and ideological interests.
The Asom Sanmilita Mahasangha, an umbrella organization of several indigenous ethnic groups continues to demand that 1951 should be the base year for determining citizenship and has already approached the apex court on the issue. The forum insists that the present NRC cannot be the final list of bonafide Indian nationals. Even a New Delhi based rights group issued a statement that Assam witnessed a massive influx of Bangladeshi (formerly East Pakistan) nationals prior to 1971 but no such noticeable influx of illegal immigrants took place in the post-71 period. Quoting relevant census reports, Rights and Risks Analysis Group director Suhas Chakma asserted that any major influx of aliens into Assam in the post-71 period is not supported by any government statistics.