Opinion | There is a need for NRC in Assam but it comes with risky implications

Viju Cherian

The final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a document that will identify Indian citizens residing in Assam and, thereby, also identify the foreigners among the population, was released on Monday. It excluded a little over 4 million people from the total 32 million in the state who applied for citizenship.

There are glaring statistics that justify the need for such an enumeration, but at the same time there are compelling arguments on why it is a risky endeavour that has been initiated without the end in sight.

Both state government and the Centre, headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have assured that it is not the end of the road for the people who’ve not made the cut in Monday’s list. However, the release of the list has set the cat among the pigeons with Opposition parties blaming the government for its tardy execution and using the register to further its political agenda. On Tuesday, protests were also seen in and outside Parliament.

This is the first time the NRC data is being revised since 1951. In the current process, a resident who can show documents that his/her family resided in Assam prior to March 25, 1971, will be considered an Indian citizen from the state. (It was on March 25, 1971, that the Pakistan army launched Operation Searchlight against East Pakistan) The 1955 Citizens Act and the Assam Accord of 1985 are used for the current NRC process. For decades now, Assam has seen protests against illegal migrants from Bangladesh and other countries.

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Viju Cherian

Opinion Editor|moneycontrol.com

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The 2011 Census data showed that the Assamese-speaking population in Assam was 48 percent, declining about 10 percentage points since the 1991 census. During the same period the Bengali-speaking population in the state grew by over seven percent. In the 10 years between 2001 and 2011 the religious composition in the state also underwent a change: while the population of Hindus declined by about 3 percentage points to 61.5 percent, the Muslim population increased by about 3 percentage points to 34 percent. This change in demographics is attributed by many, especially local groups in Assam, to illegal migration from Bangladesh.

The current events pertaining to the NRC is being overseen by the Supreme Court which has said that the final list has to be released by the year-end. This will prove to be a challenge for the governments at the state and Centre because there’s a plethora of unanswered questions accompanied by a smog of uncertainty that could spiral out of hand and spark a diplomatic crisis if not delicately dealt with.

The next step for the four million-plus people mentioned above is to file for claims contesting their exclusion from the list between August 7 and September 28. What steps will the government initiate after the final list is released in December? What status will be given to the people if their citizenship is rescinded? What are the steps taken to prevent the mass exodus of these four million people to neighbouring states? So far the reaction to the list has been peaceful, but what arrangements have been taken to prevent untoward incidents?

In the light of these, the Congress’ demand for an all-party meet on the NRC gains merit. The onus of bringing all political parties on the same page lies with the government. In the meantime, it is expected of all parties to not further vitiate the atmosphere.

With general elections around the corner, the political implications of the NRC cannot be overlooked. Parties must refrain from politicising the issue. It is here that the comments made by BJP leaders Dilip Ghosh and Kailash Vijayvargiya that a similar exercise must be carried out in West Bengal is untimely.

In dealing with the outcome of this exercise, the Centre and state also need to be sensitive towards the implications this would have with neighbouring Bangladesh. Under Sheikh Hasina, Delhi-Dhaka ties have improved and the NRC fallout must not upset bilateral ties.

This brings up the question: Will the government deport the illegal foreign people? For the time being, it seems unlikely.