GUWAHATI: A citizens’ rights organisation in Barak Valley has taken umbrage at the turn of events leading up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “clear” assurance on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, hinting that not enough has been done to protect the rights of linguistic minorities of Assam.
The Citizens Rights Protection Coordination Committee, formed about a year back, has been spearheading the movement for protection of rights of linguistic minorities in the state with an appeal that “harassment in the name of National Register of Citizens must stop”.
“We are not happy at the turn of events leading up to the assurance by the Prime Minister that the Bill would be passed in Parliament. The issue cannot be seen in isolation. If one goes by the provisions laid under the Indian Constitution, nobody’s rights can be determined on the basis of his or her religious identity,” Dr Tapodhir Bhattacharya, the chairman of the committee, told The Shillong Times.
“The committee has always maintained that linguistic minorities in Assam must have ‘equal rights’ to live as citizens and lead their lives with dignity. But they are being harassed in the name of NRC,” Bhattacharya, also a former vice-chancellor of Assam University, said.
The Prime Minister had during a public rally in Silchar on Friday categorically stated that the “Bill would be placed in Parliament and we shall see to it that gets passed as well.”
“While the reality of Partition cannot be ignored, the issue has not been addressed in a proper way. Here the term ‘foreigner’ has cropped up unnecessarily. We are astonished on how the Prime Minister spoke, which is quite in contrast to the categorical assurances he made five years back (when he was not a PM) that suicides owing to NRC would be stopped. But unfortunately, there have been over 40 suicide cases owing to non-inclusion in NRC draft. This is nothing but tyranny and inhuman treatment,” he claimed.
The committee also expressed its unhappiness that not a word was uttered on the “foreigners’ detention” camps or the HPC paper mills which have remained non-operational since the past two years.
