Events
& Issues
New Delhi, 15 August 2018
NRC Conundrum
WHAT IS THE WAY OUT?
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
The politics over the
draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam is turning into a hot
potato. While the media is rightly focussing on it, there is confusion and
nagging apprehension of what is to follow. The Supreme Court too is peeved for
its two court-appointed officers --Assam State coordinator and Registrar
General of India are only adding to the conundrum.
Recently, it pulled
up the officers for stating to the media “documents, which were earlier not
accepted, would now be accepted at the stage of claims and objections and
persons who raise this will be given extensive and numerous hearings.” This is
beyond their brief as the apex court is yet to hear from the Central government
about its standard operating procedure (SOP) on claims and objections. Thus,
they were barred from speaking to the press.
But, who will rein in
our political leaders, whose statements are only adding to the nagging fear of
the 40 lakh people left out of the NRC? The safety and security of the people
staying in a country cannot and should not be denied. Though it is believed
that a large part of Assam’s 3.3 crore population may comprise what is being
termed “illegal immigrants” coming from Bangladesh, can these migrants be
pushed back after staying in the State for over two or three decades?
Political analysts
have started wondering the real intention behind such a move. Moreover, it is
understood that the Central government is fore-warning of a similar Register at
the national level, but saying that Indian citizens would not impacted. On its part,
the Opposition sees it as yet another issue to take on the Modi government.
Recently, 11 political parties, including the Congress, submitted a joint
memorandum to the President seeking his intervention.
Though the question
of migration from neighbouring Bangladesh is well known, the governments of
this country – whether at the Centre or at the State -- has allowed this and no
strict action has been taken in this regard. Electoral considerations may have
encouraged this to happen. Ironically, it is the Congress, that signed the
onerous Assam accord in 1985, remained indifferent to such migration. But the
migration was due to factors such as communal tension i.e. torture on Hindus in
Bangladesh, poverty and lack of opportunities of the minority community there
to earn a decent livelihood.
However, at this
juncture implementing the accord may be quite inhuman. The most-affected would
obviously be Bengalis, whether belonging to Hindu or Muslim community, and for
this West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is protesting vehemently by warning
of a ‘civil war’ taking place if the NRC was not rectified. Experts say even if
20 lakh residents are accommodated in the revised NRC, what will happen to the
remaining half?
Assam was a part of
undivided Bengal before partition and lakhs of Bengali population have been
residing in that State for generations. Thus, the draft NRC, where names of
thousands or lakhs of people have been omitted appears no doubt discriminatory
and against the basic norms of human rights, as per the United Nations
guidelines. What will the international community view this matter as reports
reveal that 4.5 lakh Indians have taken the citizenship with firms that
facilitate “citizenship by investment”, reporting a 40 per cent increase in
applicants?
In the name of
nationalism, sovereignty and protecting the rights of Assam people, the
exercise is undoubtedly arbitrary and smacks of political agenda and religious
bias. Where would Bengali Muslims who have come from Bangladesh go for no fault
of theirs? Moreover, if other States follow the Assamese example, there would
be large scale displacements, leading to chaos and civil instability, which is
most unhealthy for our country.
The religion of a
community should not be any consideration “illegal migrants” as they may have
been staying in the State since say 1980 or 1985 or even later. The cut-off
date, as suggested by many commentators, should have been revised at this point
of time and brought forward to say 1990 or any date around that time.
The NDA government’s
anti-secular policies have created lot of controversies over the past few years
as they want to promote Hindutva in an aggressive manner to cash in on the
Hindu vote bank. But for this, some of the actions towards the minority
community go against the basic principles of human rights. This has also come
to the notice of the international media and there is much criticism. The
migration problem in Assam cannot be treated in isolation as this has happened
in Bengal, Tripura, Punjab and Kashmir but there is no such problem there.
By taking a firm and
clear stand, the BJP wants to live up to its reputation of being a tough party
that is headed by a decisive leader, who is not afraid of taking difficult
decisions. Coming at a time when the Modi government has been in the firing
line over the poor state of the economy, the agrarian crisis, growing
unemployment and the Rafale deal, the publication of the citizens’ list in
distant Assam has provided an opportunity to the BJP to change the national
political discourse and return to its communal agenda.
The BJP apparently is
worried that Muslims constituted over 34 per cent of Assam population in 2011 –
and may now be anything above 36 per cent – up from 30 per cent in 2001 and
have become a majority in some border districts. However, one cannot ignore
communities fearful of being overwhelmed and converted by immigrants, obviously
from Bangladesh.
It is thus necessary to
read the NRC alongside the pending Citizenship Amendment Bill which offers
fast-track citizenship to people belonging to six religions – excluding only
Muslims – from three countries, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, on the
ground that they are minorities in their own countries.
Further, if the
so-called illegal migrants cannot be given citizenship, they may be given green
card equivalents and allowed to stay and work in Assam as before. Their right
to livelihood should not be taken away. It is thus the duty of the Centre to
settle the matter judiciously.
The present problem
poses a challenge before the government as this involves not just questions
pertaining to human rights but relations with Bangladesh. Pushing back
residents to that country is not easy and these may have to be allowed to stay on.
An option would be to settle them in States where population density is low and
where there is scarcity of farm labour. It should not be forgotten that India
is country with diverse communities and religions and all of them have equal
rights to citizenship.
Keeping in view the
fact that the tradition and heritage of our country focuses on brotherhood and
fellowship – which are key tenets of Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and even
Islam – the present leadership should not do anything to disturb our present
status. Thus, the question of migrants has to be tackled with care. Political
parties must put aside their vote bank politics and think and act in the larger
interest of the nation.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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