IT News
Imphal, Jan 11,
With the passing of the contentious citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha, the whole Northeast region has been in great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty situation. And also Thanks to the collective outrage of the united northeast that The Citizenship Amendment Bill has been put to a halt in the upper house but fortunately Rajya Sabha has put the Bill to reconsider. Though the problem has been tentatively delayed but it is not completely negated. What is more concernable with this Bill is that it has the potential of disturbing the whole social fabric of the diverse indigenous communities of NER. The whole of NER has already been facing the problems of alien people taking over the population of the indigenous communities bringing them to the brink of extinction. There is an ongoing struggle of resistance against the influx of non-native Indians in this region and at the same time there is an angst amongst the whole northeast for making it the dumping ground for illegal immigrants particularly from Bangladesh. Simply this Bill appears to be a flawed and divisive which is more like of an attempt to eliminate the indigenous peoples of northeastern region.
This Bill that seeks to replace the Citizenship Act of 1955 is problematic on many grounds. Without going into the details, it violates the historic Assam Accord 1985. Moreover, these citizens gain permanent citizenship after 6 years of residency in India instead of 11 years as mentioned in the Citizenship Act (1955). This communal granting of citizenship as against the secular ethic as claimed by the Indian constitution is supposed to bring the whole demography of the northeastern into invasion.
The northeastern peoples are not in a position to frame their own laws to protect their interests in the parliament but only imposing those laws being framed by others.
The police brutal against the protestors in Tripura and other parts of NER are to be rated as overly tyrannical and undemocratic actions which is highly condemnable in the strongest term. Today’s firm and united political stand of the whole northeasterners in against such imperialistic framework to appropriate and colonized new people should be continued till to the death of any such anti indigenous peoples’ Bill. Though the Bill stays in hold in Rajya Sabha, there is still the possibility to easily pass as smooth as that of the Lok Sabha’s passage.
The insecular discriminatory basis of Citizenship Amendment Bill, we are not against humanitarian act of giving citizenship to the refugees or the persecuted peoples of other countries but that should be done not on the basis of religion. And AMMOCOC urges to the concerned to proportionately distribute the refugees and again we wish to bring into attention that as of NER we have had enough of refugees. We have been much more generous than our capacity and in consideration of this; the GoI has to look for other regions than northeastern to accommodate them. We urge the GoI to respect the Assam Accord 1985 and uphold the autonomy and rights of indigenous people of NER. AMMOCOC extends the heartfelt solidarity to our peoples of northeast in general and Manipur in Particular who are fighting against the GoI’s move of this anti-indigenous peoples’ Bill.
