This is in continuation of my article ‘The Confusion of CAA-NPR-NRC:- Part-2 NPR’ published in this platform earlier. In Part-1 I have discussed CAA and in Part-2 I have discussed NRC and NPR. Here I will discuss how Assam NRC is different from NRC for pan-India as per Citizenship Amendment Act 2003. The point must be noted here that NRC is already an act vide ‘Citizenship Amendment Act 2003’ although the rules for its implementation is not yet framed/formulated.
Assam NRC
During partition and even after partition because of political turmoil in East Pakistan, there was a huge influx of migrants mostly illegals in to border state Assam. That’s why the Government of India had an act ‘The immigrants (Expulsions from Assam) Act, 1950 effected on 1st March 1950 to expel the illegal immigrants. The main road-block was how to identify who’s an illegal immigrant. To add the woes the Indian Foreigner Act, 1946 doesn’t identify Pakistan as a nation because the later formed only after 1947. In fact, the Indian Foreign Act amended only in 1957 to enter the name Pakistan as a nation whose citizens to be considered as foreigners.
That’s why 1951 Assam census data was used to make 1951 NRC. However, the ident card to all NRC member couldn’t be provided. Thus The immigrant (Expulsions from Assam) Act, 1950 although enforced but could never be implemented because of a lot of confusion raised from the Foreigner Act 1946 and other reasons. The influx of the migrants from East Pakistan continued unabated. Such a high rate of infiltration threatened Assam demography and people of original Assamese agitated. In 1965, Government of India desired to give identity card to Indian citizens of Assam so as to identify illegal immigrants but had to drop the idea in 1966 because of no clarity on the identity between Indian nationals and illegal immigrants.
Then there was the civil war in 1971 when Bangladesh fought against Pakistan for independency. During that period even large-scale immigration happened into Assam and many states. In 1976 the government of India issued a notification to Assam government not to deport persons coming from Bangladesh. This angered genuine Assamese and the agitation started since then. In 1979 ‘All Assam Student Union’ (AASU) spearheaded the agitation on a severe scale demanding immediate expulsion of all Bangladeshi immigrants. As Bangladesh speaks Bengali, the divide between Assamese and Bengalis including Indian Bengalis increased and almost a civil war took place.
Indira Gandhi legislated Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) (IMTD) Act 1983. The act has provisions to consider people coming from Assam since 1st January 1966 (inclusive) to 24th March 1971 (midnight) to be considered as illegal (This also became basis of Assam Accord 1985) and their names are to be deleted from the voter list and any other lists which may be used as a proof of citizenship.
The Act was a major departure from the Indian foreign Act 1946 and consequent amendments. Here the burden of proving citizenship or otherwise was on the accuser or Police and not on the accused. Thus it became difficult to prove who is an illegal migrant and who’s a citizen because of many vested interest groups. The present BJP CM of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal challenged this Act in Supreme Court citing that the act is not at all useful to detect the illegal immigrants. Supreme Court too observed that the Act has created the biggest hurdle and is the main impediment or barrier in the identification and deportation of illegal migrants ‘ and the subsequently struck down the IMTD Act in 2005.
By that time’ Citizen Amendment Act 2003’ already in force which has the provision of nationwide NRC. The rules or say mechanism wasn’t formulated (not formulated till date). Thus Supreme Court asked to update 1951 Assam NRC with giving a guideline to eligibility criteria for inclusion in the updated list of NRC as below. This framework is only applicable to the state of Assam.
- Persons whose names appear in the NRC, 1951
- Persons whose names appear in any of the Electoral Rolls up to 24 March (midnight), 1971.
- Descendants of the above persons.
- Persons who came to Assam on or after 1 January 1966 but before 25 March 1971 and registered themselves in accordance with the rules made by the Central Government with the Foreigners Registration Regional Officer (FRRO) and who have not been declared as illegal migrants or foreigners by the competent authority.
- People who are original inhabitants of Assam and their children and descendants who are citizens of India provided their citizenship is ascertained beyond a reasonable doubt by the registering authority.
- ‘D’ voters can apply for inclusion of their names in the updated NRC. However, their names will be finally included only when the appropriate Foreigner Tribunal declares them as non-foreigners.
- Persons who can provide any one of the documents issued up to midnight of 24 March 1971 as mentioned in the list of documents admissible for citizenship.
- All Indian Citizens including their children and descendants who have moved to Assam post 24 March 1971 would be eligible for inclusion in the updated NRC on adducing satisfactory proof of residence in any part of the country (outside Assam) as on 24 March 1971.
- All members of the Tea Tribes shall be covered under ‘Original inhabitants of Assam’ category provided for under Clause 3(3) of the Schedule of The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
- All such original inhabitants shall be included on the basis of proof to the satisfaction of the Registering Authority. On the establishment of the citizenship of such persons beyond a reasonable doubt, their names shall be in the updated NRC.
The NRC final list excluded around 19 lacs people, who are now to challenge their exclusions in the Tribunal. If they are able to convince the Tribunal then they will be included in the NRC else they will either be deported or continue to stay in the detention centre. Here point must be noted that anybody rejected by NRC as well as Tribunal can’t get citizenship through CAA 2019 irrespective of whichever religion, he/she belongs to. The Assam in fact agitating not to make the NRC reject Hindus as citizens through CAA. 2019 and I wonder how BJP people are not able to convince them. May be politics is too much and everyone wants his pound of flesh through false information, misleading details.
Let me briefly explain one more important aspect which is ‘Detention Centres’. Rahul Gandhi claimed that the BJP government at the centre is building detention centres throughout the country to detain Indian Muslims. This is false and vested interest misinformation. Frankly, there are detention centres in Assam being build since Congress government in Centre and Assam because of Guwahati High Court order in 2008.
Also, the entire Assam NRC was monitored by SC and supervised by the SC appointed committee. Neither the Indian government nor state government of Assam has any role in this exercise.
The above is an effort to give fact-based information on Assam NRC. It has no link to pan-Indian NRC. A big difference is that Assam had one NRC in 1951 but rest of India has no NRC or say for the first time there will be an NRC subject to the formation of rules/mechanism etc post 2020 NPR and 2021 census.
We will discuss in Part-4 on possible ways of means of Pan Indian NRC and why NRC is imminent despite all the protest. Just to give a small hint let me inform you that 19th January 2020, in a book
inauguration address former CJI Ranjan Gogoi defended NRC and said that NRC is a base document for future.
Bottom line is that the society must remain informed through factual details instead of being confused through misinformation and politics. We will discuss in detail regarding future Pan-Indian NRC and the present politics in the next article of the series.