Adoption of the Citizenship Bill Will Turn Assam into Bangladesh, Says AIUDF

Hours after his release, farmer leader Akhil Gogoi is back to work. This time he is fighting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Gogoi had been arrested in Dibrugarh under the NSA for allegedly instigating people to take up arms against immigrants. Soon after the charges were quashed in the High Court of Gauhati, he was rearrested by the Dudhnoi police for an FIR registered against him in Goalpara district. He has secured bail in this regard.

Several Assamese public intellectuals have also expressed their opposition to the Bill at an event at Lakhidhar Baruah Sadan. Dr Hiren Gohain, Hare Krishna Deka, Indibor Dewri, Manjit Mahanta and Akhil Gogoi were present at the event. They appealed to the AGP and other state political parties to pull out of their alliance with the BJP-led government. The convention also decided to petition the President of India, the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister to withdraw the Bill.

Aminul Islam, the general secretary of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) told The Assam Tribune that, “adoption of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will turn Assam into Bangladesh. We will oppose it. The BPF will also oppose it. And the AGP is also committed to opposing it because if it does not then it will virtually cease to exist politically. So it (realignment) can happen.” The AIUDF has often been viewed as a front for Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam.

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) had earlier threatened to pull out of its alliance with the BJP in Assam over the Citizenship Bill issue. Samujjal Bhattacharya, the chief advisor to the All Assam Students Union (AASU) alleged that the Bill, if passed, will violate the Assam Accord. The Assam Accord was signed between the Government of India and the AASU after the Assam Agitation. The Accord sets March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for determining the citizenship of persons entering Assam. The Congress in Assam has also made clear its opposition to the Citizenship Bill. Former Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi said that the Congress had sought refugee status for those coming from across the border, not citizenship.

Even ULFA(I) has opposed the Citizenship Bill. Abhijit Asom, the chairman of the faction, in an email statement, expressed the group’s opposition to the Bill. He also reiterated ULFA(I)’s commitment to ‘sovereignty’ for Assam.

A little to the west, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal has opposed the Amendment Bill, however, not on the issue of culture. The opposition to the Bill in Bengal is on the grounds of Article 14 of the Constitution, the right to equality. Saugata Roy, a TMC MP, a member of the JPC on the Citizenship Bill told The Telegraph “the proposed bill smacks of discrimination as it lists only non-Muslim minorities from three countries. It does not talk about Muslim refugees who have fled Myanmar because of prosecution. This is in complete violation of the spirit of religious rights of the minorities guaranteed in our Constitution.”

The clamour of voices opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill makes for a strange combination. An ethno-nationalist militant group, Assamese nationalist coalition partners of the BJP, the opposition parties in the state legislative assembly, a farmer leader and RTI activist, public intellectuals, a student’s union, and the Government of West Bengal. Though the reasons for their opposition is varied, there is no doubt that they are opposed to what is essentially a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, as well as the Assam Accord. With the NRC reaching completion and the draft is set to be published on 31 December, tensions are already at a high in Assam. The Union Government in anticipation of violence has mobilised 45,000 security personnel, including 22,000 paramilitary personnel across the state. If the Amendment Bill does get passed, Assam may witness largescale unrest once again, given the various groups opposed to it.