Union pushes for ILP in Assam; announces next phase of CAA stir
GUWAHATI: The All Assam Students Union has warned the Centre not to “bargain” in regard to Constitutional safeguards for indigenous people while imposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), also pointing out that the “unfair” move to deprive Assam from the Inner Line provision, as laid down in the preamble of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) of 1873, will hamper the state.
The Union home ministry had issued The Adaptation of Laws (Amendment) Order, 2019 on December 11, 2019, extending inner line permit (ILP) to Manipur along with Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
“At the same time, the Centre altered the preamble of BEFR, 1873, substituting the four states for some districts of Assam, as mentioned in the preamble. So, the Centre has snatched away the Inner Line provision, which was there (but not implemented) for Assam. It is hard to fathom that on the one hand the Centre talks about providing Constitutional safeguards while on the other hand, deprives Assam of ILP,” AASU chief adviser, Samujjal Bhattacharjya told reporters here on Sunday.
Bhattacharya, who is also the adviser of North Eastern Students Organisation, said NESO had all the while been demanding ILP for the entire region, which has not happened so far.
“We challenge the Centre and the state government to publicly explain such a stance to deprive Assam of a provision which was there. While Meghalaya has passed a resolution in the Assembly recently based on BEFR, the BJP-led Assam government has remained silent. So, we demand immediate implementation of ILP in Assam,” he asserted.
The AASU leader further warned the Assam government not to mislead the people of the state by “flip-flopping” on the number of Bangladeshi Hindus who would be eligible for citizenship if CAA is implemented.
“There have been various figures (up to 2crore) quoted by the central government from time to time in the past in regard to the number of foreigners present in the country. The chief minister, on the contrary, has said only a ‘negligible’ or ‘minimal’ number of Bangladeshis would be eligible for citizenship. Now in the wake of the ILP states and Sixth Schedule areas of the Northeast being exempted from the purview of CAA, more illegal immigrants are likely to enter Assam and thereby inflate the figures,” Bhattacharjya said.
“Therefore, the government is only trying to make the grave situation appear less burdensome by making such statements. The Union home minister has now even admitted the danger posed to Northeast by CAA, and so, the Centre should immediately scrap CAA,” he said.
Anti-CAA agitation
With the first phase of anti-CAA agitation about to culminate, the students’ union along with 30 indigenous organisations of Assam, meanwhile, announced the next phase of protests, starting with a house-to-house resolution opposing the contentious legislation on the last day of 2019 and the first day of 2020.
“Tributes will be paid to the six martyrs of the CAA agitation with lighting of earthen lamps in the streets and various places on January 1, 2020. Subsequently, protest meetings and protest marches will be held in villages and districts while on January 3, torch-light rallies will be staged across the state,” AASU president, Dipanka Kumar Nath said.
He further urged people across the state to stage protests by playing of indigenous musical instruments on January 9.
“We are lining up a massive protest if the Prime Minister comes to the city to inaugurate the Khelo India Youth Games. The agitation will be long and continue till CAA is scrapped. On January 11 again, we will stage a torch-light rally while copies of CAA will be burnt on January 13 (Uruka) and January 14 (Magh Bihu),” Nath added.