Speaking to reporters at a Press Conference in Delhi on Tuesday, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) urged India’s Central Government to implement the Assam Accord which was signed in 1985. The Accord prevents illegal immigrants from enjoying citizenship rights in Assam—irrespective of his or her religion.
The demand follows an eruption of a controversy over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, brought out by the BJP-led central government in 2016. The Bill seeks to grant citizenship to religious minorities (excluding Muslims) facing persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Describing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 as a threat to Assam’s identity, AASU Chief Adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya further added that the bill violates the secular spirit of the Indian constitution as it aims to provide citizenship on the basis of religion.
“It is not about Hindus or Muslims—but illegal immigrants,” he remarked.
The AASU Chief Adviser said, “Our borders and lands have been infiltrated by illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and thence, Assam’s demography has changed.”
“Subsequently, we have been relegated to minority status in our own motherland and have been encumbered by this burden since 1971,” he added.
AASU General Secretary, Lurinjyothi Gogoi said, “The National Register of Citizens (NRC) was prepared in 1951, but has not been updated by past governments for their vote-bank politics.”
“It was a series of protests in Assam that made the Central Government update the NRC, which is the only safeguard for the indigenous people in the state,” added Gogoi.
AASU is the student’s wing of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the party which is an ally of the ruling BJP in Assam.
