The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 - Why Are People Protesting Against It?

The world history has always been a repository of various territorial conflicts. Any external factor, no matter whichever era they belonged to, had faced strong retaliation from the natives of the region. Perhaps, this is due to the attachment they feel about their motherland which provides them enough courage to fight against all odds and stay united. There are several instances when a small yet determined group of natives successfully pushed back forces thousand times stronger reminding us about the strength contained within oneself while loving the motherland. In the year 2019, protests going in and around North Eastern states clearly indicates rejection of the Citizenship( Amendment) Bill, 2016, and has been termed as something bringing threat to the unity and integrity of the region by the masses.

The way illegal immigrants are defined will change after passing of the Bill in both the houses. This was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 15, 2016, which aims to modify one of the major criteria of Citizenship Act, 1955, by lowering down the number of years of continuous stay required by an immigrant in India from 11 years to 6 years after which he will be granted Indian Citizenship by naturalisation; provided, he belongs to any one of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community.

After the Bill was passed in Lok Sabha on January 8^th, 2019, many parts of India had witnessed huge public outrage. The people of North Eastern part of India in general and Assam in particular has showed strong disagreement towards passing of the Bill in Lok Sabha. The states bordering the countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are most likely to be affected much as they are the worst sufferers of the problems related to illegal immigrants.

All the North Eastern part of India and especially Assam has witnessed agitations from several organisations since the passing of the Bill in lower house. The state fears National Register of Citizens (NRC) being void if the Bill becomes an Act. The NRC does not differentiate immigrants on the basis of their religion, which is the sole basis of Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, and will be a complete disregard towards the sacrifice of 855 martyrs during the Assam agitation (1979-1985), as they say. People of Assam in any way, are not ready to bear the burden of illegal immigrants settling in Assam after 23^rd March, 1971 irrespective of what religion they belong to.

People of the neighbouring states are also taking this issue to streets. Mizos are of the opinion that this Bill will put their very existence at risk. Like Assam, they too have been facing the problem of illegal immigration since independence of Bangladesh. Tripura is another worst sufferer of the voluminous influx of illegal immigrants since the liberation of East Pakistan. There have been several conflicts between indigenous people and the illegal immigrants and consequently has left only a mere 31% population of the natives. A state following the principle of “Prakriti Devo Bhava” with land area exceeding a little more than 10,000 sq. Kms, 2/3^rd of its landmass falls under forest cover area and has only a small fraction of land available for urbanisation and development. It is undoubtedly less for the natives themselves to accommodate well, let alone the occupation of this fraction by the illegal immigrants. Assam shares a huge portion of border with Bangladesh putting other states of North Eastern region at risk as this might increase the number of migrants to these states from Assam.

As of date, the proposing party failed to table this Bill in Rajya Sabha which has given the people of NER a time for momentary celebration amidst the fear of re-introduction of the same Bill in the houses when they gain majority in both of them.

We have been trying our best since birth to fulfil the bit of our duty towards the motherland. Withstanding huge waves of attempted unrest, we have reached this far carrying along our diverse culture and traditions. Not a single day had we attempted half-heartedly to save our land from scars and scratches. We fought several full-fledged wars and tumbled over a few. Nonetheless, we are on our feet with the colours flying high. Highly unlikely it is, for something written on a piece of paper to last for long, against which the native masses has been protesting since its introduction. Summing everything up with a quote by John F. Kennedy which is pretty apt in the current issue: “Ask not what your country can do for you... ask what you can do for your country...”