The BJP led Government in Assam has removed Debabrata Saikia, the leader of the Assam Congress Legislature Party (ACLP), from the post of Leader of the Opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly on January 1, 2021. The decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was notified by a Gazette notification on the same day, but it came into the public domain allegedly only on January 4, that too after office hours!

The Assam Congress Legislature Party (ACLP) has strongly opposed the decision taken by the BJP government. Reacting the entire development, Debabrata Saikia said, “Whatever action has taken by BJP is nothing but murder of democracy. The decision neither has any justification nor it has any constitutional validity. ACLP will go the court, if the notification is not revoked. BJP is frightened of the popular support towards Congress. So, they are trying to malign us by unconstitutional and unprecedented action.”

It may be mentioned that, Debabrata Saikia, son of former Chief Minister of Assam Late Hiteswar Saikia, is strong voice against BJP in the present political context in Assam. He is the most popular leader of Assam Congress, for his people-oriented activities, relentless campaigns against anti-people policies of BJP government, and courageous actions against communal propaganda of BJP and its allied organisations. Due to uncompromising and courageous stand against BJP, Debabrata Saikia has become a thorn in the side of the BJP in Assam. But, the manner in which the BJP removed Saikia has revealed how spiteful the party can be.

Firstly, from the Gazette notification, it appears that decision was not taken following all constitutional norms. As per “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Assam Legislative Assembly”, it is stipulated that “Leader of the Opposition” means the Leader of the largest recognised party in the opposition and recognised as such by the Speaker. But the Gazette Notification of Government of Assam No: LLE 8/ 2016/ 883 dated January 1, 2021 says, “The present strength of Indian National Congress Legislature Party in Assam Legislative Assembly is not equal to the quorum fixed to constitute a sitting of the House, that is one-sixth of the total number of Members of the House as required under the aforementioned provisions and therefore, the Hon’ble Speaker, Assam Legislative Assembly, has been pleased to withdraw the recognition of Shri Debabrata Saikia, MLA, as Leader of the Opposition, Assam Legislative Assembly w.e.f. 1^st January, 2021.” Hence, question arises, whether the number of the Members of ACLP has fallen to less than one-sixth of the total number of the Members of Assam Legislative Assembly or not? Let us find out by taking a closer look at the numbers.

The Assam Arithmetic

In the 14^th Assam Legislative Assembly, the Congress won 26 out of a total 126 seats in 2016. Just after the election, one Congress MLA Mansing Rongpi resigned from the Assembly and re-elected as BJP MLA from Baithalangsho. Thus, number of Congress MLA reduced to 25 in the initial period itself. In 2019, another Congress Legislature Abdul Khaleque, got elected to Lok Sabha from Barpeta parliamentary constituency. The seat he vacated, Jania was later won by AIUDF.

After that, two veteran Congress MLA Pranab Gogoi, former Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly and Tarun Gogoi, former Chief Minister of Assam passed away, by-polls for their seats couldn’t be held. Another two Congress Legislators, Ajanta Neog and Rajdeep Gowala resigned a few days ago from state Assembly to join BJP. Thus, number of members of Congress party in Assam Legislative Assembly has now been reduced to 20. But at the same time, the strength of Assam Legislative Assembly has been reduced to 122 from 126.

Likewise, AGP Legislator Pabindra Deka and BPF Legislator Emanual Muchahary resigned from state Assembly to join AJP and BJP respectively. Another, BJP MLA who was elected to state Assembly in the bye-poll of Rangapara Constituency post parliamentary election in 2019, Rajen Borthakur too died recently. All these seats are lying vacant. Thus, the present strength of Assam Legislative Assembly is 119.

Now, the strength of Assam Congress Legislature Party is 20, which is enough number to prove one-sixth of the present strength of Assam Legislative Assembly. Thus, it proves that the initiative taken by BJP government just before 4 moths of State Legislative Assembly election is nothing but a political revenge against Congress and to diminish the image of Debabrata Saikia.

Assam Congress demands justice

Meanwhile, ACLP General Secretary Durga Bhumij, who is MLA from Doomdooma, strongly protested the removal of Debabrata Saikia as Leader of the Opposition. In a letter to Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly, he pointed out that in Chhattisgarh, BJP has only 14 MLAs in a 90-member House, where BJP Legislature party Leader Dharamlal Kaushik has been recognised as Leader of the Opposition. In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh State Assembly, SP has 48 Legislators, where SP leader Ram Gobind Choudhry is acting as Leader of the Opposition. In the 294-member State Assembly of West Bengal, Abdul Mannan of Congress has been recognised as Leader of the Opposition, though Congress has just 23 members there. In the 70-member State Assembly of national capital Delhi, BJP has only 8 MLAs but its leader, Rambir Singh Bidhuri has been recognised as Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly. The Congress MLA demanded to revoke the decision and to restore Debabrata Saikia as Leader of the opposition.

Congress MP Abdul Khaleque said, “BJP is undermining the constitutional provisions.” He further said, “Debabrata Saikia must be reinstated as Leader of the opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly.” AICC Secretary and former MLA Bhupen Borah on the other had said, “The decision to withdraw the status of Leader of the opposition from Debabrata Saikia is nothing but a pressure game of BJP. Congress will never compromise to any actions of BJP to diminish our constitutional values. People will treat them strongest lesson to such unconstitutional and immoral actions.”

Related:

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Is the Opposition uniting against BJP in Assam?

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Since independence, various rivers have washed away over 72 lakh bhigas of land in Assam. This comes to 35.25 per cent of all agricultural land in the state. 1 bigha is equal to 0.133 hectares. This is as per data shared by Water Resources Minister, Keshab Mahanta on December 30, 2020.

Mahanta, who was responding to a question raised by Asom Gana Parishad’s Ramendra Narayan Kalita said, “So far, various rivers of the state have washed away 72,58,710 bighas of land in Assam.”

It is noteworthy, that the total area of land washed away by various rivers is not only more than one third area of total agricultural area of Assam, it much more than the total area of 10 smaller districts of the state!

As per, Directorate of Economic and Statistics, Government of Assam, net cropped area (area under agriculture) in Assam is 27.53 lakh hectares which is equal to 2,05,78,399 bighas. It is only 35 percent of the total geographical area of the Assam.

At the same time, it is stated that gross cropped area of Assam is 38.39 lakh hectare, where 11.43 lakh hectares of area has been shown more than once as it is covered by multi cropped area. Thus, net cropped area in Assam is 27.53 lakh hectares which is equal to 2,05,78,399 bigha. Out of it, 72,54,710 bigha of land has been eroded by various rivers of Assam. It is total 35.25 percent of the total agricultural and homestead land of the state.

Erosion, migration and citizenship

Now, the land issue is at the center of the entire geo-political situation of Assam since early part of 20^th century. The issue of large-scale migration from Bangladesh, and the alleged grabbing of land from indigenous people by so called Bangladeshis is also closely connected with land issue.

Truth is, 51 percent of the total land of Assam is covered by Forest area, 15 percent is under water. Thus, only 35 percent of the total geographical area is only open for either agricultural use or for homestead use as per Directorate of Economic and Statistics, Government of Assam. Taking this into account, the Water Resources Minister’s submission before the state legislature is an eye opener for various stakeholders of the state.

Who are the worst affected people?

It is a vital issue, who are the people affected by the large-scale erosion? It is Muslims, especially the East Bengal origin Muslims, who were settled in Assam due to British policy of:

a) grow more food,

b) grow cash crops,

c) gather more land revenue.

They were settled in riverside areas of Assam in between 1901 to 1946 and earlier, and are the worst affected of this endless erosion.

During the British period, Muslims were invited to Assam, giving them certain incentives like issuing free family tickets of trains, so that, they come to Assam and settled here. They were also allotted certain plots of vacant land, where they were relieved from paying all sorts of land tax for certain period. But, due to line-system, as enacted by British, these Muslims were not allowed to come out of an imaginary line. These imaginary lines were carved only to prevent them, so that they cannot come out of riverine area.

Almost, all the land of these Muslim people had, has been washed away by repeated flood and erosion of land in the state since 1967. It has compelled them to come out of river area to plains to live and earn a livelihood. It has added to the long running issue of land grabbing and Bangladeshi intrusion.

After Muslims, huge number of Bengali Hindu people, who had also migrated since early part of 20^th century, and even after partition of India in 1947, had to change their habitation as they failed to co-exist with the river. Large chunk of tribals from various upper Assam districts too are affected by this erosion and even a section of Scheduled Caste people, especially the fishing community of non-Muslims are affected due to this large-scale erosion.

The communal agenda

When Muslims were uprooted from their land due to erosion, they were tagged as land grabbers and Bangladeshi infiltrators. In the case of non-Muslims, who were forced to migrate due to land erosion, they became tools for communal propaganda.

Ignoring and in real sense, hiding the ground reality, right-wing groups are propagating that Muslims in riverine areas targeted Hindus in these areas, and due to severe atrocities of Muslims, the Hindu people had to flee from those areas!

Thus, the submission with respect to land erosion sheds light on a hate agenda that needs to be dealt with immediately.

Related:

Politics of Micromanagement

Expelled Congress MLAs inducted in BJP in Assam

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November, 6, 2020:  “The government will prepare NRC once again if BJP comes to power in Assam in 2021,” announced Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Minister for Finance, Health and Education, and someone viewed as one of the most powerful people in the state government. It is noteworthy that the National register of Citizens (NRC) was first prepared in 1951 and then updated recently under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The final NRC was published on August 31, 2019, but the government of Assam hasn’t accepted it. 

Sarma was speaking to media-persons on the sidelines of a government meeting in North Guwahati. He alleged, “Prateek Hajela, the then NRC state coordinator fundamentally prepared a faulty NRC which is not acceptable to the government of Assam. So, we are demanding sample re-verification of 20% names included in bordering districts with Bangladesh and 10% in other districts. As the matter is pending in Supreme court, BJP government will prepare a new NRC if it comes to power in 2021.” 

The minister added a dangerous communal hue to his allegations saying, “Defeat of Mughals couldn’t be attained during preparation of NRC, because of the faulty acts of Prateek Hajela. He engaged people in NRC works, who are themselves doubtful citizens. So, after BJP comes to power in 2021, it will prepare a new NRC once again.” 

The minister alleged that “thieves have acted as police there” thus insinuating that government employees belonging to the Muslim community were misusing their power in Muslim dominated Dhubri and Barpeta districts. 

Before publication of the final NRC, the government of Assam filed a petition demanding re-verification of 20% in bordering districts and 10% other districts of the names included in the final draft NRC, which the supreme court rejected. Thus, the BJP leaders and ministers, who were enthusiastic about NRC after publication of final draft NRC, are now maligning the final NRC, as the number of exclusions is not high enough to meet their expectations. 

When the final draft NRC was published on July 31, 2018, about 40 lakh people were dropped from it. Shortly after than on August 2, 2018, the then President of BJP and Rajya Sabha member, Amit Shah had said on the floor of Parliament that the BJP government had identified 40 lakhs of illegal Bangladeshis through NRC. 

As after publication of the final draft NRC, there were provisions for submission of Claims and Objections applications. While claims for inclusion could be filed by those who had been excluded, anybody could file an objection against anyone whom they felt were included without proper documents. After mutation of reclaim and objections final NRC was published on August 31, 2019, where over 19 lakh people were excluded and names of 3.11 crore people were included. 

It is noteworthy that the NRC authorities have failed to issue reasons for rejection for the last one year and two months, leading many to believe that a large number of people may have been excluded from the final NRC due to biases and communal agenda. It may be mentioned that the process of issuing reasons for exclusion had to be started by NRC authority just after a week of publication of the final NRC. 

Now the BJP leaders and ministers are alleging that names included in the final NRC are not acceptable to them only because the number of exclusions is way below their expectations. But it is noteworthy that other than Original Inhabitants (OI) or Indigenous People who were not required to jump through bureaucratic hurdles, everyone else’s name and corresponding documents underwent as many as 19 checks and balances before being included in the NRC. So, the theory of Himanta Biswa Sarma that “thieves acted as police in the process of NRC” is completely false, fabricated and malicious propaganda. 

The statement also completely flouts the authority of Supreme Court of India, as it has already rejected the application of the Assam Government on re-verification. NRC, which was completed under direct supervision of the honourable Supreme Court of India, and if anybody openly stands against it, perhaps it should be treated as contempt of court.

Related: 

Assam NRC: 10,000 names could be deleted from the final list! 

Assam BJP stirs the communal pot again! 

Assam Chief Minister openly rejects NRC

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Guwahati, 15th October, 2020: Musa Mondal became the 107^th casualty of the citizenship crisis in Assam when he allegedly handed himself on October 12, 2020, upon being declared foreigner. Modal hailed from Kayastha Para village that falls under the jurisdiction of the Sorbhog police station in Barpeta district.

In 2018, Musa, son of Voyage Mondal received a foreigner’s notice from the 8^th Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in Barpeta. After this he approached a lawyer and paid her a huge sum of money to fight his case. It was difficult for the unlettered man to organise the funds as he is the only earning member in his impoverished family of four. However, shortly afterwards, his lawyer met with an accident and had to be hospitalised. After 10 days in a coma, she was bed ridden for about 9 months. As she couldn’t appear before the FT during this period, Musa Mondal was declared foreigner by ex-parte judgment.

Musa Mondal, who was living on a small piece of government land in Kayastha para, along the banks of Naljhora river, which flows into India from Bhutan, lost his mental balance as the Advocate informed him that he needed to pay a further Rs 80,000 to knock the doors of Gauhati High Court to challenge the order of the FT. He was quite upset about the development and was trying to gather money for filing a petition, challenging the order of the Foreigners’ Tribunal and proving himself to be Indian. For the last one and half years, he tried to gather some money but failed.

After a point he could not deal with his distress any more. On October 11, 2020 he left his home and became untraceable. He returned briefly, but left again. Sometime later, he was discovered hanging nearby.

It may be mentioned that Voyage Mondal (Musa’s father) and Foyez Mondal, two sons of Eju Mondal was enrolled in the Voters List of 1965 and 1970 in the Khudnamari Pathar village that falls under the jurisdiction of the Sorbhog police station of Barpeta district. The name of Musa Mondal who is son of Voyage Mondal is enrolled as a voter since 1989.

Khudnamari Pathar and Kayastha Para are located adjacent to each other and often bear the brunt of floods that are common in the area. Unlike Musa Mondal, many people of Khudnamari Pathar migrated to Kayastha para as major parts of both these villages were affected by flooding of the Naljhora river. Though Musa Mondal was voting in Kayastha Para in the later period, he was marked as D Voter and finally faced Foreigners case.

Madhab Ali a.k.a Ali Mohammad Mondal, who is the son of Musa’s uncle Fayez Mondal says, “Musa and I faced Foreigners Cases simultaneously. I was declared Indian based on the same legacy documents. But, Musa Mondal, who was my cousin, was declared a foreigner!” It is noteworthy that the names of both brothers, Voyage Mondal and Foyez Mondal, were recorded in the Voters Llist of 1965 and 1970 not only in the same village, but in the same family.

But it looks like things are only going to get worse for this village. Shajahan Ali, an educated youth of the village says, in the Voters list of Kayastha Para, there are 42 people who have been marked D Voters! He fears they will all end up like Musa Mondal, if they don’t find proper help in time.

Related:

NRC related fears claim one more life in Assam

Over 16 deaths so far due to CAB-NRC panic in Bengal?

NRC rumours spark suicides in Bengal, BJP stirs communal pot

The post 107th citizenship related death in Assam! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In yet another example of how CJP has been helping defend the rights and freedoms of Indian citizens in Assam, a woman named Anowara Khatun was spared the harassment of defending her citizenship before a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) because of timely intervention by CJP’s Assam team.

In the last week of September, 2020, a notice was served to Alekhjan Khatun, wife of Sayed Ali of Banduguri village, that falls under the jurisdiction of the Dhaligaon police station in Chirang District. However, the name mentioned in the notice itself was Anowara Begum, wife of Sayed Ali, of village Bandhabguri.

Wrong woman, wrong village!

Thus, the wrong woman was targeted because authorities mistook Alekhjan for Anowara and Banduguri village for Bandhabguri! The confusion appears to have been compounded by the fact that both women have a husband named Sayed Ali.

But they have different fathers. Though the name of Alekhjan Khatun’s father is Anowar Hussain, in the notice, the name of father of Anowara Begum is recorded as Mohammad Ali. It proves that Alekhjan Khatun and Anowara Begum are not the same person. Moreover, their fathers are not the same person either!

But authorities remained adamant, and instead of giving the family time to appear before the Chirang FT in November as per the notice, the Border Police of Dhaligaon police station forced Sayed Ali to accept the notice earlier. The notice sent shockwaves among the family that scrambled to get Alekhjan’s documents in order, particularly her linkage document to her father.

Linkage to father crucial

This is where things get tricky. When it comes to married women in rural Assam, most of them do not have a birth certificate by virtue of being born at home instead of a hospital or health centre. Because they are rarely educated, they have no school leaving certificate. They are married off early and by the time they get registered to vote, they have already moved to their marital village and thus have no documents linking them to their maternal village of family of birth! 

A certificate by the village Panchayat Secretary, locally called the Gaon Burah is a remedy, but since this document has been relegated to a secondary status while having one’s name included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), lakhs of rural housewives were excluded from the NRC that was published in August last year. This absence of linkage documents has once again returned to haunt rural housewives who are now required to defend their citizenship before FTs.

CJP takes up the challenge

The distressed family approached CJP for help and our Volunteer Motivator Abul Kalam Azad reached out to the family on September 28, 2020. Azad checked and collected all relevant documents and then team CJP took the family to Dhaligaon police station on September 30, 2020. We discussed the unique matter of mistaken identity with the Sub-Inspector of Border Police of Dhaligaon police station. After a long discussion, the Sub-Inspector requested the CJP team and the family to discuss the matter with the Superintendent of Police office of Chirang District.

Then we took the family along with the Border Police official of Dhaligaon police station to the office of the Superintendent of Police office at Kahalgaon. After a two-hour long discussion, the Border Police department of Chirang District was convinced that Alekhjan Khatun wife of Sayed Ali and daughter of Anowar Hussain is distinct from Anowara Begum, wife of Sayed Ali and daughter of Mohammad Ali.

At the same time, the village head of Banduguri submitted a written deposition that there is no one known as Anowara Begum, wife of Sayed Ali, who is daughter of Mohammad Ali living in their village. This led to the Border Police of Chirang District sending a written statement to the Chirang FT, requesting them to withdraw the case, as they failed to find the person against whom the reference case was registered.

The original FT notice and Alekhjan Khatun’s documents may be viewed here:  

Defending freedom, creating history

This was a huge victory for not only Alekhjan and her family, but also for team CJP. In a previous similar case of mistaken identity, a woman had been forced to not only appear before an FT but also spend over two years behind bars in a detention camp!

Madhubala Das of Bishnupur area of Chirang District was served foreigners notice a few years ago. As Madhubala Das could not be found, the Border Police picked up a widow named Madhubala Mondal from the same village in 2017. She was forced to spend two years and nine months in detention camp, before CJP came to her rescue. It was because of CJP’s intervention that it was proved that the two Madhubala’s were two different women and the Chirang District police had to withdraw the case. Madhubala Mondal was released in 2019 unconditionally. It was the first case of this kind where the Border Police of Assam Government had to release anyone from detention camp.

But this certainly isn’t a unique case. Hundreds of others are still suffering due to similar confusion on account of either same or similar names of people or their family members or villages. People rarely have a way out and if they are unable to prove otherwise due to lack of proper documentation, or don’t appear before the FT at all, they end up being declared foreigner in their own land, their rights and freedoms stripped away.

Our work drew appreciation from BTAD Citizens Rights Forum President Abdul Hamid Sheikh, who said, “Big salute to team CJP for creating history. Never before has a case referred by Border Police been withdrawn on the basis of mismatch of identity. This instance could be championed all over the state for cases of the same nature.”

Eminent writer, critic and sociologist Prof Rajen Kalita said, “Very noble work has been done by CJP. You have succeeded in building people’s confidence.” Appreciating the action, Social Activist, Taira Bhattacharya said, “This brings hope to people who don’t have any. This is very encouraging news.” Eminent journalist and career consultant Nurul Laskar said, “Very bold and timely action taken by team CJP. Our prayers for your every success in future.” Prof Rituraj Kalita said, “I am very happy to get the news. It is unbelievable that justice can be availed in this way.”

Related:

CJP helps Assam man walk free after 12 years behind bars!

Shocking! Flood-affected people sent ‘foreigner’ notice in Assam

CJP’s relief efforts continue in Assam despite cyclone, floods and heavy rains

How CJP helped 32 people walk out of Assam’s Detention Camps

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On September 20, 2020 a meeting was held at the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, where one of the key topics of discussion was the next steps to be taken with respect to the Clause 6 committee report.

Brief background

In February 2020, the Clause 6 Committee constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had submitted a slew of recommendations pertaining to Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards for the interests and culture of Assamese people. The 14-member high-powered Committee had been constituted in July 2019 and had been given six months to submit its report, which it did just days before the deadline.

This Report of the Committee on Implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord was however not made public at that time. Then, six months later, some members of the panel including Arunachal Pradesh Advocate General Nilay Dutta and three members of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) released the report independently.

As per the report, what is key to the Committee’s recommendations is a series of amendments to Article 371 B. The report says, “The Committee is of the opinion that to give full effect to its Recommendations, as stated hereinbelow, several Constitutional and legislative amendments will be necessitated. The existing Article 371-B in the Constitution of India will need to be amended.”

Fresh developments

The meeting on September 20, was attended by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, State minister and North Eastern Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Joint Secretary (North-east) Satyendra Garg, and Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, among others. They discussed the future course of action on implementation of the Clause 6 report, grant of Scheduled Tribe status to six communities, implementation of the Bodo Accord and the vital NRC issue, among others.

Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that since the Clause 6 Committee Report has contents that may require legal amendments, the Union Home Minister has instructed the Chief Minister that the State government should have the report examined by legal experts and determine if there is any need for amendments, and then advise the Centre accordingly.

“The Home Minister does not want the report with legal defects which then may have to be sent back to the State. He wants that the committee’s report should be examined by Constitutional experts so as to ensure that there are no legal lacunae. In future, if the report is stalled because of legal lacunae a wrong signal will go to the people of Assam,” said Sarma.

However, here arises an interesting question. The Committee on implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord comprised legal experts like Biplab Kumar Sharma (former Judge, Gauhati High court), Ramesh Barpatragohain (Advocate General of Assam), Nilay Dutta (Advocate General of Arunachal Pradesh), Shantanu Bharali (Legal Advisor to the Chief Minister of Assam) among others.

If the recommendation of such esteemed legal experts requires another round of review, then what was the necessity for inclusion of such legal experts to the committee in the first place? It is alleged that this review is simply an eye wash to placate Bengali Hindus, the core support base of BJP as they have revolted against the report.

Responding to this, Dr Akhil Ranjan Dutta, Head of the Department, Political Science, Gauhati University, said, “For me the suggestion given by the Union Home Minister to Assam Chief Minister to get the Clause 6 Committee Report 2020 examined by legal experts is rather ironic.  The Report has been prepared by a Committee where there are two Advocate Generals of two state governments apart from a High Court Justice (Rtd.) as the Chairperson. Now, how do the legal experts nominated by the State Government examine it? Will it be examined by Constitutional experts? If it is by Constitutional Experts then it is a bit reasonable as they may bring in questions like how do reservations of various kinds up to 80% based on 1951 as the cut off year even for recruitment in the private sector conform to the very premises of universal citizenship.”

Dr Dutta added, “But, more important is the sustainability of the propositions in political and social terms? Will these propositions of reservation up to 80% in all representational bodies contribute towards social harmony and peace that propose to deprive the streams of citizens and their descendants of the period between 1951-71 from constitutional and other safeguards? I am raising these questions for debates and discussions. I am neither endorsing nor rejecting the proposals.”

Related:

Constitutional and legislative amendments needed to implement Clause 6 of Assam Accord: Committee

Is MHA distancing itself from Assam Clause 6 committee report?

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Guwahati, September 22,2021: With the Assam Assembly elections coming up next year, the state BJP is leaving no stone unturned to come back to power. It is aggressively rekindling its demand for reverification of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was published on August 31, 2021. It now appears that they have the Centre’s blessings for the same.

The matter was discussed at a meeting held on September 20 at the residence of union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, State minister and North Eastern Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Joint Secretary (North-east) Satyendra Garg, and Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, among others.

While a variety of subjects were raised at this meeting, what stood out was a discussion on the Assam government’s desire to file a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court demanding reverification of NRC. Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that it was decided that the Central government will support the state government’s affidavit that proposed a reverification of up to 20 percent in border areas and 10 percent in other districts. Sarma said, “When the matter comes up for hearing, the two governments will jointly take up the issue.”

It is noteworthy that the last time this demand was made, the Supreme Court had rejected it. A key reason for rejection was a submission by then NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela that 27 percent reverification had already been done! This rendered the need for a 10-20 percent reverification unnecessary. Hajela had submitted his report in a sealed cover, and this secret report was so strong and competent, that the Attorney General and Solicitor General who were appearing on behalf of Union government and government of Assam respectively in the Supreme Court, didn’t utter a single word in court on the subject. Moreover, no other party backed the demand for reverification.

Following this, the BJP government in Assam has been allegedly continuously trying to malign Hajela. It allegedly compelled Prateek Hajela to leave Assam. The Supreme Court transferred the Assam and Meghalaya cadre IAS officer to Madhya Pradesh amidst a growing threat to his life. Hajela was replaced by Hitesh Dev Sharma. Assam BJP has allegedly tried to score political brownie points by adding a communal hue to the NRC, and was allegedly upset that not enough members of the minority community were excluded from it.

Even when it came to objections filed against inclusion of so called ‘foreigners’ in the NRC, it was later discovered that the objections were made on flimsy grounds, with the objectors often failing to appear for hearings. But even when they were present, in most cases they ended up making a written or oral submission that they had submitted the objection without any valid points.

On the other hand, after publication of final NRC, there were complaints that lakhs of people have been dropped from final NRC due to gross discrimination. In many cases, one or both parents were included in the final NRC, but their children were excluded! In other cases, a portion of a family tree was included, but the rest mysteriously excluded. In some other cases, children are included but parents are excluded. Married women were largely excluded from the NRC, even though their brothers and sisters are included.

Most importantly, NRC authorities had to serve the reason of exclusion within 7 days from the date of publication of the final NRC. But they failed to do so even an year later, mainly because they failed to find a valid reason for exclusion. Under these circumstances, the stand of the government on reverification will lead to another round of harassment for poor and marginalised sections of people in the name of NRC.

Now, in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the subsequent unplanned lockdown and still reeling under political backlash generated in wake of the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Assam BJP is scrambling to hold on to power and the reverification bid could be its last Hail Mary!  

Related:

Assam gov’t adamant on NRC reverification

EXCLUSIVE! NRC Rejection Slips to be issued only after Covid-19 is brought under control 

Assam NRC: Allegations of inclusion of ‘ineligible’ people in list

The post Centre to support Assam government’s affidavit to conduct NRC reverification? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In shocking developments in the ongoing citizenship crisis in Assam, SabrangIndia has learnt that the Reason for Exclusion from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is not available for all those who were excluded from the final NRC published on August 31, 2019. Sources in the NRC authority on condition of anonymity told SabrangIndia that the Reason for Exclusion based on which the Rejection Slip is prepared is available for only 3 lakh people!

After shocking revelations from NRC sources, SabrangIndia tried to get in touch with NRC State Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma for a clarification, but our repeated calls went unanswered. We will update our story in case we get an official response.

It may be recalled that 3.29 crore people of the state of Assam had submitted over 6 crore documents to have their names included in the NRC. Over 40,000 government employees were engaged in the mammoth exercise under which 2,500 Nagrik Seva Kendras (NSK) were set up. When the final draft of the NRC was published on July 31, 2018 and it excluded over 40 lakh people sending shockwaves across the state! An Additional Draft Exclusion list of 1,02,462 names of people excluded from the NRC was released on June 26, 2019. This list named people who were previously included in the NRC but were subsequently found to be ineligible for inclusion, mostly on account of being siblings and family members of people who had been declared foreigners.

Out of the total number of excluded people, nearly 4 lakh people did not apply for inclusion as a part of the Claims, Corrections and Objections process. That means more than 36 lakh people went through the process of having their names included in the list. This process included several checks and balances such as multiple document screenings and verifications by different government authorities at different levels as well as claims hearings at designated hearing centers.

When the final NRC was published on August 31, 2019, a total of 19,06,657 people were excluded from it. Now, assuming 4 lakh of these are the original 4 lakh people who didn’t apply for inclusion after the draft NRC was released, that still leaves over 15 lakh people who needed to be given a reason for their exclusion.

This reason for exclusion was given in Speaking Orders by NRC Disposing Officers that in turn needed to be scanned into Rejection Slips. These Rejection Slips or Rejection Orders were required by the people who were excluded from the NRC to file appeals for inclusion before Foreigners’ Tribunals. They were required to do so within 120 days from the day the NRC authority issued these orders. However, this process was time consuming and, as SabrangIndia has been reporting for the last nine months, fraught with inexplicable delays.

In February 2020, during the Budget Session of the Assam Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary informed the house that Rejection Orders will be issued from March 20 onwards. But then the Coronavirus struck!

On March 19, SabrangIndia had reported that all processes related to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) had been placed on hold due to the spread of the Coronavirus. Speaking to SabrangIndia at that time, NRC State Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma had said, “Only essential staff from my Guwahati office is working and that too from home. All processes have been temporarily put on hold.” He had added, “No, we will not be able to issue rejection slips from March 20. This is because of the systems put in place due to the corona virus outbreak.” 

Now, as the national lockdown is in various stages of being lifted, the NRC authorities need to once again gear up to resume the process of issuing the Rejection Slips. But, if reasons are available for only 3 lakh people, what happens to the rest of the people excluded from the list? If the total number of people excluded were 19,06,657 and 4 lakh did not apply for inclusion, that leaves over 15 lakh people. If out of these, the reason for exclusion is available for only 3 lakh people, that still leaves 12 lakh people who may never get a proper reason!     

Were they excluded without any reason? Were the numbers of excluded persons buffered artificially to satisfy a political agenda? The ramifications are shocking. Additionally, there is fear that in the absence of actual reasons, perhaps reasons could be manufactured or manipulated in accordance with the government’s allegedly divisive agenda.

Related:

BREAKING: NRC related activity put on hold in Assam due to Corona Virus

Anxiety in Assam: Hurdles in releasing detention camp inmates, delays in NRC rejection slips

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Guwahati, March 24: Assam is all set for a 7-day lockdown starting 6 PM on Tuesday evening. Health and Finance Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sharma announced it at press briefing at the Assam Secretariat where only 10 journalists were allowed as a part of extraordinary measured being taken to combat the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak. Sharma said, “As a precautionary measure to control corona endemic, the Government of Assam has decided for 7 days lockdown all over Assam from 6 pm of March, 24, 2020. The lockdown will continue till 6 pm of 31st March, 2020.” 

During the lockdown all establishments and facilities other than essential services will come to a halt. The Minister also said that if during the lockdown, any person comes out of their house without reason, he will liable to punishment of six months jail and penalty of Rs 2000/-. He said that medical, electricity and fire services will continue to work normally during lockdown as will banks and ATMs. Grocery shops will remain open. Other than these essential services everything will remain closed.

Sharma said, “Though medical, fire services, financial services, grocery shops will remain open, no rush will be allowed anywhere.” 

About religious places of worship, the minister said, “No mass prayers will be allowed in temples, namghar, mosques or other religious places. In temples or namghar the other than the head priest only two of his assistants will be allowed to perform religious duties.” He added, “In Mosques, other than the Imam only two of his moajjim will be allowed to perform religious duties. If more than three person enter religious places, they will be arrested and liable to punishment.” 

The minister said that till now no corona endemic positive cases have been found in Assam. 169 tests were conducted on suspicion of corona virus, of these 148 results came out as negative. The results for 21 cases are awaited. He said that still the government is taking all these steps as precautionary measure.  

Meanwhile, the declaration of a lockdown has received mixed reactions all over the state. While a majority of people have welcomed the tough steps taken by the administration, many people are also raising questions about the lack of alternative steps from government about to livelihood for the daily wage earners, who are going to be the worst affected during the lockdown. CPI(M) central Committee member Suprakash Talukder said, “We welcome the lockdown but at the same time government must ensure the basic livelihood for the working class. Government should give at least Rs 5000 to the daily wage earners so that they can gather their necessary food and other essential items.”  

Though, people are supporting the government initiative by and large, the government’s initiative to control the corona endemic through medical and administrative measures is getting sharp criticism. Abul Kalam Azad, Bijni District AAMSU President said, “One person came from Gujarat three days ago, facing cough, sneezing and fever in my village. The villagers feel that he is infected by corona virus. We have informed the matter to local police, civil administration, medical department and state help centre. But no steps have been taken.” 

There are also concerns about the large number of workers coming from southern states entering various villages of Assam without minimum medical check up. It is alleged widely that though many villagers have informed the state help centre, no proper response has been received.

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