Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The CAA Birodhi Jatiya Mancha moved the State Governor, Gulab Chand Kataria, requesting him to ensure the repeal of the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) in Assam and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, besides taking steps to review the National Register of Citizens on the basis of 1951 in Assam.
In a memorandum to the Governor, the Mancha said, “The Government of India, through the enactment of ‘The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019’, brought great horror to different parts of the country as well as to the state of Assam. Section 6 of the amended Act allows persons belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to get citizenship with immediate effect. We consider this revised system to be done only on the basis of religion. This is against the constitution of the country. On the other hand, the amended Section 2 of the Act includes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who entered our country before December 31, 2014, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and were victims of religious persecution. They will unconditionally get citizenship in India. However, in 1985, the historic Assam Accord signed between the Government of India, the Government of Assam, the All Assam Students’ Union, and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad gave citizenship to all those who migrated from outside the state on March 31, 1971. Therefore, unlike the whole country, the state of Assam alone bears the burden of millions of foreign nationals under this agreement. Moreover, the Act does not apply to the sixth schedule areas and areas covered under the Inner Line Permit as amended under Section 3(4) of the Act. Therefore, with the enforcement of this law, the existence of the Assamese and Assamese people will be in danger in all spheres, including art, culture, language, politics, and land rights in Assam.”
“The people of Assam consider that it is not acceptable in any way to impose the burden of foreign nationals on the state of Assam again with many such errors and deviations,” the memorandum said.
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