FOCUS
NRC IMBROGLIO & CHANDRAYAAN: INDIA @ 71
So the 71st Independence Day has come and gone into the national amnesia as usual. Except a national holiday, there wasn’t any difference to the people of India in general. As usual there were functions galore with tricolor going up at different places across the nation. By the sun set, the national flag was brought down. It was no different in the historic Red Fort, the customary site of flag hoisting by the Prime Minister of India. Its been going on since 15th August 1947. Of course unlike other places, here Prime Minister of the country addresses the nation. This time round it was the 5th and the last speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before the term of this government expires in May 2019. Of course for all you know, Narendra Modi may comeback as the Prime Minister again to address the nation on 15th August 2019. But will he? It’s a question best left to the people of India to answer. It is, truly speaking, their call. It is heartening to note that these elections, anywhere in India, are a reflection of the choice of our people. They have indeed matured enough to speak loudly and clearly at the ballot box, subject to some abbarration here and there.
Speaking to the nation, from the ramparts of Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi spoke of his visions for the future of India and Indians. In his almost 80 minutes speech Prime Minister Modi touched upon myriad issues touching the lives of Indians in general. It is true, ever since Prime Minister Modi spoke to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the first time on 15th August 2014, there has always been keen expectation from the public to listen to his Independence Day speech for its apparent novelty. However, that uniqueness of 2014 speech did not remain. Those statesmen like visionary statements over the years slowly gave way to real politic. It became less and less appealing as years rolled by. This time round it sounded almost like a prelude to the electioneering to the Loksabha due in less than 8/9 months.
In his long speech he tried to give an account of over 4 years rule of NDA II under his leadership. Swatcha Bharath Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Mudra Yojana, construction of toilets, LPG gas connections under Ujwala Yojana, electricity connection under Saubhagya Yojana etc. Words smith that Narendra Modi is, he has been successful in catching the imagination of a good section of middle class Indians. This time round making a pitch for retaining power in 2019, as against the so-called ‘policy paralysis’ of earlier regime of pre 2014 change of guard, he tried to present a picture of ‘rising India’. In his address, Modi referred to women’s right, about Dalits and tribals, SC/ST & minorities. He also spoke on atrocities on women and girl children, but failed to refer to seriously debated assault on girl children by members of his own party and other sangh elements, and there are quite a few of them. He referred to GST and demonetization and claimed how it has made difference to the people in general and trade and industry in particular, but refrained to mention if black money stashed in tax havens will ever come back to the country. Seeking continuation of his rule, he made the farmers to have a vision of doubling their income by 2022 so also of sending manned spaceship to the moon. While asserting that he has fulfilled the promise made in his maiden speech in 2014, he stressed that there is much to be done and that this government shall continue to strive harder to achieve progress comparable to developed nations. Thus indirectly indicated that he needs to be re-elected in the coming 2019 election. However, he spent more time to speak on the projects underway in bringing North Eastern states to the national mainstream in the development paradigm.
Thus he spoke on most things, some relevant, some not so relevant. Some he stressed, some he referred in passing and some did not refer at all. This deduction is on the premise of an ever evolving India, wanting to establish itself as a serious contender for leadership in the comity of nations.
However, like the earlier visions of smart cities & bullet trains the present desire to unfurl Indian tricolor in the space, of sending manned spaceship into the outerspace, is grandiose to say the least. We have still unaddressed and underadressed issue of primary school literacy level among government school children, the problem of malnutrition, the problem of high out of pocket expenses on medicine, consultation & hospitalization are all very serious issues needing continuous attention and monitoring expenditures of budgeted allocations. All governments in the past tried to address these issues, but left too much undone for the next government and then next government. It has gone on for all these past decades.
Yes lot of initiative of the present government at the centre is in a state of Work-in-Progress. This premise could have been a logical plank to talk about why this government needs to continue at least for one more term. This is being realistic, and public can buy this argument better, despite the opposition politics of non-performance hype.
However, what he could have touched, but did not touch, was the serious issue of Supreme Court monitored NRC, the National Register of Citizens, which had declared some 4 million as, not Indian citizens, with a possibility of relook to revise the 40 lakh figure. This is a serious issue of statelessness. These 40 lakhs are both Hindus and Muslims. They may be from Bangladesh or from West Bengal, travelled in search of a better pasture. Post 1971 to 2018, some 37/38 years have seen staggering increase in the population everywhere, so was Assam. It is true that Hindus from Bangladesh have suffered persecution. Similarly Muslims have travelled to India from Bangladesh for better living conditions. This too is a human problem. But with the influx of these migrants whether from West Bengal or from Bangladesh, the pressure on Assam landscape was inevitable. This needs to be understood and appreciated.
NRC, or the National Register of Citizens is a list of citizens which is meant to decide who is a bona fide citizen of India and those who are not included therein are deemed to be illegal immigrants. The first list which was made in 1951 had covered whole of India. It is for the first time NRC is being updated that too only in Assam. Now, one has to link oneself to a family member whose name had appeared either in the NRC of 1951 or in the election rolls of any state of India prepared till midnight of 24th March 1971. The year 1971 was chosen as a basis as it was agreed in the Assam Accord (AA) of 1985. AA was between the then Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi and All Assam Student Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP), after a bloody and protracted massive protest by AASU & AAGSP against what they called illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. There was this justified fear that these illegal immigrants from across the border would take away their jobs and land which could lead to attack on their local culture as well. They insisted on detection and deportation of those Bangladeshi illegal immigrants. The political instability due to the frequent strikes by AASU & AAGSP brought about the Assam Accord of 1985. There were three points agreed in the AA. 1) All those foreigners who had entered Assam between 1951 & 1961 were to be given citizenship including right to vote. 2) Those who had come after 1971 to be deported, and those entered between 1961 & 1971 will have citizenship rights but no voting rights for 10 years. 3) Anyone who entered the state after March 24, 1971 would be declared foreigner and deported. A law was enacted to bolster the agreement, called Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act.
Unfortunately the provisions of Assam Accord were not implemented for a long time. Naturally Assamese were concerned and made loud noise. Here it is to be noted that, successive governments both at states and centre lacked sincerity in addressing the issue, and allowed the problem to fester and grow for their own political compulsions. Thus another agreement was signed in 2005 to update the NRC, with a 2 year deadline. A pilot project was launched in some districts, which led to violent protests by groups opposed to NRC exercise and NRC update exercise was halted and it remained in a limbo. It was then, in 2009, an NGO, Assam Public Works (APW) filed a petition in Supreme Court asking identification of foreigners in the state and deletion of their names from the voters list. Supreme Court took its own time to act. However in 2013, it ordered to complete the NRC exercise by December 2017. With BJP gaining political ground in the country and assuming power at centre in 2014, the whole issue of NRC gained traction, may be for its own political convenience. The central government took the S.C directive seriously for the first time since 1951 to complete the NRC as demanded by the Apex Court. Reportedly there were 3,29,91,384, who applied for inclusion of their names in the Apex Court monitored NRC. To comply with court order, by 31st December 2017, 1.9 crore names were released by the agency responsible for NRC preparation. Hence it had to be continued as an ongoing project. Thus on 30th July, the second list was released with 2.89 crore names, leaving 40,007,707 people as doubtful, subject to further verification of documents about their antecedents. So, all those excluded will still have the chance to establish their bona fides, while it is true that even a sitting MLA was left out, besides a Congress leader.
This 40lakhs figure of so-called stateless people has opened a political pandoras box, with just about anybody fishing in the troubled water with likes of Mamata Banerjee suggesting blood bath & civil war. While it was indeed a huge problem of multiple dimension, there has to be some way forward with extreme caution and maturity, without too much rancor.
All need to recognize, history of migration, all over the world, is long and many times traumatic. These migrations have always been due to persecution, suffering and for better living conditions. But it is also a fact that these migrations have brought in its wake, its own peculiar issues of concerns. Coming to India, its geostrategic location and relatively better economic condition, as compared to other countries of the region, has always attracted migration. It is true that refugees or illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet have come to India to settle down if possible. And you can find people from all the above nationalities all over India. However according to India’s RAW (Research & Analysis Wing), refugees or illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Tibet have been somewhat systematically dealt with, but the manner in which influx of refugees/illegal immigrants from Bangladesh have been largely chaotic and remained unattended for its socio-economic & political fallout. So if the places where these illegal immigrants found refuge to make a home and hearth for themselves, they have unwittingly ignited socio-political tensions and it cannot be denied.
World is privy to the knowledge that in the United States of Donald Trump the issue of illegal immigration from Mexico and other countries is a subject of profound concerns, has to be accepted. And United States of America is a multi-trillion $ economy unlike India with its close to 4 times US population. So is the case with European Union countries, who do not like to take immigrants but are selective basically to get cheap labour for their industries. We are all aware of the crisis in Germany and other members of the EU with the West Asian crowd knocking at their closed doors.
Thus the problem of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh into India who just walked across in hordes for all these years, before and after independence in 1947 is certainly very huge. In Assam we are talking about some 33 million of them, of which around 4 million are suspect. And rest of India will be much more, if NRC is enforced all over India. Whether illegal immigrants are deported back to their country of origin or not: NRC as an exercise may be worth it, for varieties sociological deductions. Even our demographic figure on the rise can have some explanations from this NRC exercise.
Now that this 4 million of those excluded in the latest NRC exercise may in all probability, have been legitimate Indian citizens, who didn’t have enough documents to prove their origin, hopefully find solutions within the next NRC exercise. However there would be in all probability, a good chunk declared illegal immigrants due to lack of proper proofs. Would Bangladesh accept them back? It’s a very difficult question to answer. In the past they had refused to accept. But a solution may have to be found, perforce. One way could be, Bangladesh could be convinced that since Hindus, who left Bangladesh due to alleged persecution could be accommodated in India, where they feel comfortable and those who are Muslims, who are also Bangladeshis, Bangladesh being a Muslim country should offer to receive them back. This will make both countries to share the burden of this human problem, pari passu. Of course, those secularists who will say that we cannot make distinction on the basis of religion have simply no idea what could be an acceptable solution to all. After all we need to co-exist as neighbors. Hope government of the day thinks and acts on these lines to find a lasting solution. Of course, declaring these illegal immigrants who are ultimately left out of NRC, may continue to stay in India, if Bangladesh refuses to accept, without voting rights. This, in principle should evoke no protest from those illegal immigrants, although likes of Mamata and Congress may show red flag for their own compulsions.
J. Shriyan
So the 71st Independence Day has come and gone into the national amnesia as usual. Except a national holiday, there wasn’t any difference to the people of India in general. As usual there were functions galore with tricolor going up at different places across the nation. By the sun set, the national flag was brought down. It was no different in the historic Red Fort, the customary site of flag hoisting by the Prime Minister of India. Its been going on since 15th August 1947. Of course unlike other places, here Prime Minister of the country addresses the nation. This time round it was the 5th and the last speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before the term of this government expires in May 2019. Of course for all you know, Narendra Modi may comeback as the Prime Minister again to address the nation on 15th August 2019. But will he? It’s a question best left to the people of India to answer. It is, truly speaking, their call. It is heartening to note that these elections, anywhere in India, are a reflection of the choice of our people. They have indeed matured enough to speak loudly and clearly at the ballot box, subject to some abbarration here and there.
Speaking to the nation, from the ramparts of Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi spoke of his visions for the future of India and Indians. In his almost 80 minutes speech Prime Minister Modi touched upon myriad issues touching the lives of Indians in general. It is true, ever since Prime Minister Modi spoke to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the first time on 15th August 2014, there has always been keen expectation from the public to listen to his Independence Day speech for its apparent novelty. However, that uniqueness of 2014 speech did not remain. Those statesmen like visionary statements over the years slowly gave way to real politic. It became less and less appealing as years rolled by. This time round it sounded almost like a prelude to the electioneering to the Loksabha due in less than 8/9 months.
In his long speech he tried to give an account of over 4 years rule of NDA II under his leadership. Swatcha Bharath Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Mudra Yojana, construction of toilets, LPG gas connections under Ujwala Yojana, electricity connection under Saubhagya Yojana etc. Words smith that Narendra Modi is, he has been successful in catching the imagination of a good section of middle class Indians. This time round making a pitch for retaining power in 2019, as against the so-called ‘policy paralysis’ of earlier regime of pre 2014 change of guard, he tried to present a picture of ‘rising India’. In his address, Modi referred to women’s right, about Dalits and tribals, SC/ST & minorities. He also spoke on atrocities on women and girl children, but failed to refer to seriously debated assault on girl children by members of his own party and other sangh elements, and there are quite a few of them. He referred to GST and demonetization and claimed how it has made difference to the people in general and trade and industry in particular, but refrained to mention if black money stashed in tax havens will ever come back to the country. Seeking continuation of his rule, he made the farmers to have a vision of doubling their income by 2022 so also of sending manned spaceship to the moon. While asserting that he has fulfilled the promise made in his maiden speech in 2014, he stressed that there is much to be done and that this government shall continue to strive harder to achieve progress comparable to developed nations. Thus indirectly indicated that he needs to be re-elected in the coming 2019 election. However, he spent more time to speak on the projects underway in bringing North Eastern states to the national mainstream in the development paradigm.
Thus he spoke on most things, some relevant, some not so relevant. Some he stressed, some he referred in passing and some did not refer at all. This deduction is on the premise of an ever evolving India, wanting to establish itself as a serious contender for leadership in the comity of nations.
However, like the earlier visions of smart cities & bullet trains the present desire to unfurl Indian tricolor in the space, of sending manned spaceship into the outerspace, is grandiose to say the least. We have still unaddressed and underadressed issue of primary school literacy level among government school children, the problem of malnutrition, the problem of high out of pocket expenses on medicine, consultation & hospitalization are all very serious issues needing continuous attention and monitoring expenditures of budgeted allocations. All governments in the past tried to address these issues, but left too much undone for the next government and then next government. It has gone on for all these past decades.
Yes lot of initiative of the present government at the centre is in a state of Work-in-Progress. This premise could have been a logical plank to talk about why this government needs to continue at least for one more term. This is being realistic, and public can buy this argument better, despite the opposition politics of non-performance hype.
However, what he could have touched, but did not touch, was the serious issue of Supreme Court monitored NRC, the National Register of Citizens, which had declared some 4 million as, not Indian citizens, with a possibility of relook to revise the 40 lakh figure. This is a serious issue of statelessness. These 40 lakhs are both Hindus and Muslims. They may be from Bangladesh or from West Bengal, travelled in search of a better pasture. Post 1971 to 2018, some 37/38 years have seen staggering increase in the population everywhere, so was Assam. It is true that Hindus from Bangladesh have suffered persecution. Similarly Muslims have travelled to India from Bangladesh for better living conditions. This too is a human problem. But with the influx of these migrants whether from West Bengal or from Bangladesh, the pressure on Assam landscape was inevitable. This needs to be understood and appreciated.
NRC, or the National Register of Citizens is a list of citizens which is meant to decide who is a bona fide citizen of India and those who are not included therein are deemed to be illegal immigrants. The first list which was made in 1951 had covered whole of India. It is for the first time NRC is being updated that too only in Assam. Now, one has to link oneself to a family member whose name had appeared either in the NRC of 1951 or in the election rolls of any state of India prepared till midnight of 24th March 1971. The year 1971 was chosen as a basis as it was agreed in the Assam Accord (AA) of 1985. AA was between the then Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi and All Assam Student Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP), after a bloody and protracted massive protest by AASU & AAGSP against what they called illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. There was this justified fear that these illegal immigrants from across the border would take away their jobs and land which could lead to attack on their local culture as well. They insisted on detection and deportation of those Bangladeshi illegal immigrants. The political instability due to the frequent strikes by AASU & AAGSP brought about the Assam Accord of 1985. There were three points agreed in the AA. 1) All those foreigners who had entered Assam between 1951 & 1961 were to be given citizenship including right to vote. 2) Those who had come after 1971 to be deported, and those entered between 1961 & 1971 will have citizenship rights but no voting rights for 10 years. 3) Anyone who entered the state after March 24, 1971 would be declared foreigner and deported. A law was enacted to bolster the agreement, called Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act.
Unfortunately the provisions of Assam Accord were not implemented for a long time. Naturally Assamese were concerned and made loud noise. Here it is to be noted that, successive governments both at states and centre lacked sincerity in addressing the issue, and allowed the problem to fester and grow for their own political compulsions. Thus another agreement was signed in 2005 to update the NRC, with a 2 year deadline. A pilot project was launched in some districts, which led to violent protests by groups opposed to NRC exercise and NRC update exercise was halted and it remained in a limbo. It was then, in 2009, an NGO, Assam Public Works (APW) filed a petition in Supreme Court asking identification of foreigners in the state and deletion of their names from the voters list. Supreme Court took its own time to act. However in 2013, it ordered to complete the NRC exercise by December 2017. With BJP gaining political ground in the country and assuming power at centre in 2014, the whole issue of NRC gained traction, may be for its own political convenience. The central government took the S.C directive seriously for the first time since 1951 to complete the NRC as demanded by the Apex Court. Reportedly there were 3,29,91,384, who applied for inclusion of their names in the Apex Court monitored NRC. To comply with court order, by 31st December 2017, 1.9 crore names were released by the agency responsible for NRC preparation. Hence it had to be continued as an ongoing project. Thus on 30th July, the second list was released with 2.89 crore names, leaving 40,007,707 people as doubtful, subject to further verification of documents about their antecedents. So, all those excluded will still have the chance to establish their bona fides, while it is true that even a sitting MLA was left out, besides a Congress leader.
This 40lakhs figure of so-called stateless people has opened a political pandoras box, with just about anybody fishing in the troubled water with likes of Mamata Banerjee suggesting blood bath & civil war. While it was indeed a huge problem of multiple dimension, there has to be some way forward with extreme caution and maturity, without too much rancor.
All need to recognize, history of migration, all over the world, is long and many times traumatic. These migrations have always been due to persecution, suffering and for better living conditions. But it is also a fact that these migrations have brought in its wake, its own peculiar issues of concerns. Coming to India, its geostrategic location and relatively better economic condition, as compared to other countries of the region, has always attracted migration. It is true that refugees or illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet have come to India to settle down if possible. And you can find people from all the above nationalities all over India. However according to India’s RAW (Research & Analysis Wing), refugees or illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Tibet have been somewhat systematically dealt with, but the manner in which influx of refugees/illegal immigrants from Bangladesh have been largely chaotic and remained unattended for its socio-economic & political fallout. So if the places where these illegal immigrants found refuge to make a home and hearth for themselves, they have unwittingly ignited socio-political tensions and it cannot be denied.
World is privy to the knowledge that in the United States of Donald Trump the issue of illegal immigration from Mexico and other countries is a subject of profound concerns, has to be accepted. And United States of America is a multi-trillion $ economy unlike India with its close to 4 times US population. So is the case with European Union countries, who do not like to take immigrants but are selective basically to get cheap labour for their industries. We are all aware of the crisis in Germany and other members of the EU with the West Asian crowd knocking at their closed doors.
Thus the problem of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh into India who just walked across in hordes for all these years, before and after independence in 1947 is certainly very huge. In Assam we are talking about some 33 million of them, of which around 4 million are suspect. And rest of India will be much more, if NRC is enforced all over India. Whether illegal immigrants are deported back to their country of origin or not: NRC as an exercise may be worth it, for varieties sociological deductions. Even our demographic figure on the rise can have some explanations from this NRC exercise.
Now that this 4 million of those excluded in the latest NRC exercise may in all probability, have been legitimate Indian citizens, who didn’t have enough documents to prove their origin, hopefully find solutions within the next NRC exercise. However there would be in all probability, a good chunk declared illegal immigrants due to lack of proper proofs. Would Bangladesh accept them back? It’s a very difficult question to answer. In the past they had refused to accept. But a solution may have to be found, perforce. One way could be, Bangladesh could be convinced that since Hindus, who left Bangladesh due to alleged persecution could be accommodated in India, where they feel comfortable and those who are Muslims, who are also Bangladeshis, Bangladesh being a Muslim country should offer to receive them back. This will make both countries to share the burden of this human problem, pari passu. Of course, those secularists who will say that we cannot make distinction on the basis of religion have simply no idea what could be an acceptable solution to all. After all we need to co-exist as neighbors. Hope government of the day thinks and acts on these lines to find a lasting solution. Of course, declaring these illegal immigrants who are ultimately left out of NRC, may continue to stay in India, if Bangladesh refuses to accept, without voting rights. This, in principle should evoke no protest from those illegal immigrants, although likes of Mamata and Congress may show red flag for their own compulsions.
J. Shriyan
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