Imperiled Citizenship: Understanding Assam's opposition to CAA

With the enactment of the contentious The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the major debate is centred around the secular-communal divides. However, there is a need to focus on and address the imperiled citizenship of the Assamese, writes Dr Anshuman Behera, Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.

New Delhi:As the modern state asserts its monopoly, acquiring and sustaining citizenship has been a critical issue. A contribution of Western civilization understood around conventional imaginations within a fixed territorial framework, issues around citizenship have been major sources of conflicts. The Indian state has been grappling with the issues around citizenship for a long time, more critically now with the enactment of much-contested Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).

The CAB, introduced in Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016, was once again tabled on the floor of the parliament and was enacted on December 12, 2019. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) of 2019, an act further to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 inserts the following provision to the principal Act, namely: 'provided that any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian Community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who entered into India on or before the 31st day of December 2014 and who has been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any rule or order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrant for the purposes of this Act'.

Read: Excessive force used against civilians in Assam: Amnesty India

The enactment of the CAA is witnessing massive protests across the country opposing the Act. The nature of protest can be put into two major categories. Protests that we witness erupting from the premier universities like Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and others, and opposition in the Northeastern states, especially in Assam. Pegged with distorted emotions of Hindutva-phobia on one side and Islam-phobia on the other sealed with petty electoral interests, the first category of protests seriously lacks merit and legitimacy. While these protests, guided by competing but vicious political narratives, offer little to critically engage with, the opposition to the CAA in the Northeastern states, especially in Assam, demands thorough scrutiny. The protests are fundamentally different as the first ones demand more inclusive and 'secular' citizenship policy with no discrimination against Muslims; the protest in Assam necessarily demands for 'detecting, deleting and deporting' illegal migrants irrespective of their religious and ethnic identities.

Read: Negligible number of people to benefit from amended Citizenship Act: Sonowal

The opposition to the CAA in Assam is a solid blend of fear and anxiety among the local communities on one side and the 'politics of antagonism' by the political parties on the other. As the state has gone through multiple episodes of protests in the past, violent and otherwise, the on-going events highlight the apathy and indifference of the political parties to one of the most genuine grievances that they have. Moreover, while the protests in the universities are hitting hardlines; the discontent among the Assamese doesn't get the attention it deserves. Insensitivities and large-scale ignorance on the Northeastern states are only to be blamed to this extent. While the gravity of the Assamese resistance to the CAA needs to be critically engaged with; it is vital to highlight the petty electoral interests across the party lines that has kept the issue alive till date. The devil, of course, lies in the historical details

Unearthing History

The issue of over presence of migrants substantially changing the demography of Assam can be traced back to the colonial period. Gopinath Bordoloi, a tall leader of Congress party, accused a minority government of Muslim League under the leadership of Mohammed Saadulla of altering the demography and culture of Assam by encouraging the Bengali Muslims in the province. Considering the fast demographic change in Assam, Bordoloi, the first Chief Minister of independent Assam, legislated the 'Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act of 1950' with the sole objective to expel the illegal immigrants from East Pakistan (Bangladesh). A National Register of Citizens (NRC) was to be prepared based on 1951 Census.

The death of Bordoloi in 1950 put a temporary halt to the NRC only to blow up in 1971 onwards, especially by the All Assom Students Union (AASU). The campaigns against the illegal immigrants led by the AASU witnessed the dismissal of Congress government and the rise of Assom Gana Parishad (AGP) with Prafulla Mahanta taking over as the Chief Minister. An agreement with ASSU and the Congress government of Rajiv Gandhi at Centre paved the way for detecting the illegal immigrants and disenfranchising them from the voting list and finally deporting them. Ironically, the AGP government in its two terms in the office failed to live up to the expectation of the people on the issue. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also used this issue as an instrument to further its political interest and substantially gained in terms of coming to power in 2016.

Read: BJP-ally AGP moves SC against Citizenship Act

The issue of illegal immigrants in Assam continues to be a genuine grievance of the people while the political parties continue to use this as an emotive instrument. The historical development necessarily suggests that hardly is there any political will to address the grievances as it is understood that keeping the issue alive serves the political parties better. However, with the enactment of the CAA at a larger level, there seems to be more fear and anxiety among the Assamese.

The Fear

The fear and anxiety among the Assamese are multifold. It is about losing their social, cultural, linguistic, and moreover political identities and resources. As per the CAA, no provisions shall apply to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura that are covered under the Sixth Schedule of Indian Constitution and areas covered under the 'Inner Line' notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. Such a provision in the CAA enhances the fear and anxiety among the Assamese. Considering the provisions of the CAA will not be implemented in the Scheduled areas; the load on the areas in Assam where it would be implemented will be heavy. These areas that are already victims of substantial demographic change because of the unchecked illegal immigrants would deprive the original inhabitants of their rights, entitlements, and identities. While the major focus on citizenship, at this time, is being debated around secular-communal divides; there is a need to focus and address the imperiled citizenship of the Assamese failing which an already neglected state would be further pushed to the brink.

Read: Ex-Assam CM Tarun Gogoi expected to don lawyer's robe in SC tomorrow