Hyderabad:On August 31, 2019, the final National Register of Citizens, updated for the first time since 1951, is scheduled to be published. The register is meant to serve as a definitive and authentic list of Indian citizens in Assam, separating them from undocumented migrants, mostly from believed to be from Bangladesh.
Assam had released the final draft of the NRC on July 30, 2018. Around 28.9 million residents out of the 32.9 million applicants, had made it to the list, while over 4 million people were left out. Out of these 4 million people who did not make it to the final draft NRC, only 2.95 million people filed claims for inclusion in the citizens register until December 31, 2018, which was the last day of filing claims.
This very large number of people now stare at an imminent threat of facing statelessness.
But, what brought Assam to this juncture?
A timeline of events that took place post Independence may provide an answer to this question. How movements of ethnic nationalism in Assam were defined by a fear of the "outsiders".
- July 19, 1948
Until the 'Influx from West Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1948' came into force on July 19, 1948, there was no restriction on the movement of people from Pakistan to India or vice versa. Eventually, the Constitution of India formalised this as the cut-off date that entitled the Right to citizenship of certain migrants from Pakistan to India.
- April 8, 1950 Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru (left) and Pakistani prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan signing a pact to ensure protection of refugees in 1950 (Photo: Twitter/Moeedi)
The Nehru-Liaquat Pact signed on April 8, 1950, ensured the rights of minorities in both the countries. It said that refugees who returned by December 31, 1950, would be entitled to get back their property, "in respect of migrants from East Bengal, West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura."
- March 1, 1950
Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act came into force giving the Centre the "power to order the expulsion of certain immigrants". Sanjib Baruah, a noted academician writes in his book - India against itself: Assam and the Politics of Nationality- that the Act implied a distinction between "Hindu refugees" and "Muslim illegal aliens".
- 1951
The first Census of Independent India was conducted followed by the first NRC compiled in Assam, which was based on that Census.
- December 30, 1955
The Citizenship Act came into force codifying rules for Indian citizenship by birth, descent and registration.
- 1957
Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act was repealed.
- October 24, 1960
A bill was passed in the Assam legislative assembly to make Assamese the only official language of the state.
- May 19, 1961 Procession in Silchar on 20 May 1961 in memory of the deceased martyrs in defiance of the curfew (Wikimedia commons)
Bengali Language Movement was launched in the Barak Valley of Assam protesting against the imposition of Assamese as the official language.
- 1961-1996
Under the 'Prevention of Infiltration into India of Pakistani Nationals' project, thousands of East Pakistani migrants were forced to leave Assam.
- 1964
Riots in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) led to an exodus of Bengali Hindus across the border.
- September 23, 1964
The Centre issued the Foreigners' Tribunal Order under the Foreigners' Act, 1946, mandating the setting up of tribunals bestowed with the powers of civil courts and was tasked with identifying foreigners.
- April-September 1965
Indo-Pak war broke out, leading to a further influx of refugees from East Pakistan to India.
- August 8, 1967 AASU logo
The All Assam Students' Union was formed.
- 1967
The Assam Official Language Act was amended to name Bengali as the official language of three districts from Barak Valley.
- 1971 Bangladeshi Refugees migrated to India during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 (East West University Library)
The Bangladesh liberation war led to a fresh wave of refugees.
- 1978
A bye-poll to the Mangaldoi Parliamentary Constituency showed a surge in population in the voters' list and drew protests building a narrative that illegal immigrants had entered electoral rolls.
- August 26, 1979 Assam agitation (Aai Assami : file picture)
Several political and cultural organisations in Assam led by the All Assam Students Union called for putting off the 1979 Parliamentary election till ‘names of foreigners’ were struck off the electoral rolls. This was the start of a six-year-long Assam agitation or Axom Andolan or Anti-foreigner movement.
- December 1979
Centre rule was imposed for a year and Assam remained under president's rule for the next three years.
- May 1980 AAMSU holding a press conference on NRC and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019
In response to the anti-foreigners agitation, the All Assam Minority Students Union was formed, originally consisting of both Hindus and Muslims.
- 18 February 1983 A 1983 paper cutting on a story filed by United Press of India on Nellie massacre
More than 3,000 people mostly belonging to the Bengali Muslim community from 14 villages - including Nellie - of now Nowgong district in central Assam - were massacred in just six hours.
- 1983 There was widespread disorder and rioting, state government employees refused to go for polling duties and staffs were flown in by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from other states to conduct the 1983 elections (File image)
Assembly elections were held, amid boycott calls and protest.
- December 12, 1983
Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act was passed. It specified that those who moved to Assam between 1966 and 1971 would lose their voting rights for 10 years and those who could not prove that they had entered the state before midnight on March 24, 1971, were to be detected, declared foreigners and deported. Under the Act Foreigners Tribunals were also set up to detect and deport "illegal migrants".
- August 15, 1985 The Memorandum of Settlement on the Assam problem was signed between Central Government and the leaders of the Assam movement at the residence of Prime Minister of Rajiv Gandhi (Express Archive Photo)
The Assam agitation culminated into the Assam Accord, which was signed between the Centre, the state, the AASU, and other Assamese nationalist groups. Under the Accord and subsequent amendment of the Citizenship Act, foreigners were to be divided into the following categories: