The Assam National Register of Citizens.

                                        Recently, the government released the second updated draft of Assam National Register of Citizens including 2.9 crore citizens out of 3.29 crore applications.Almost 40 lakh people were left out from the list creating a lot of confusion and fear among the rightful citizens who were left out of the list.So what exactly is happening in Assam right now…? 

                                       The national register of citizens is a list of Indian citizens which is meant to decide who is a bona fide Indian citizen and those who fail to enlist in the register will be deemed illegal migrants. First list was made in 1951 across India according to the census of that year. It is for the first time that it is being updated and that too only in Assam. 
So why is this being done…?

                                       
                                      Assam historically has seen an influx of immigrants. Before independence, the Britishers brought in plantation workers from present-day Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In 1905, Bengal was divided into East Bengal, West Bengal and Assam.
Post the 1971 war, a large number of people migrated from East Pakistan to Assam and West Bengal. The government then made several efforts to send back the illegal immigrants but failed.
In 1979, the leaders of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) started an agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants. Finally, in 1985, the Assam Accord was signed between the All Assam Students’ union and the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi after which the agitation culminated.
                                      Following the Accord, an amendment to the Citizenship Act of 1955 under section 6(A) gave Indian citizenship to all migrants who came to Assam before the midnight of March 24, 1971. The date March 24, 1971, was decided because the Bangladesh Liberation war started on March 25, 1971.
Right now, the National Register of Citizens is being compiled for the first time after 1951 to ascertain the Indian citizenships. All the persons who were counted under the initial 1951 census and were included in electoral rolls up to 1971 or those having documental proof of migrating on or before March 24, 1971, will be extended citizenship.

                                So what are the possible challenges to this move…?

Conflict with citizenship bill

• Government is considering to pass Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which seeks to grant citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis, who have entered Assam illegally post-1971. But once NRC exercise will be completed, a lot of Hindu Bangladeshi might not appear in the list, thus, will be designated as illegal migrants. Thus, it will lead to confusion and moreover harden the resolve of people not to assimilate Hindu Bangladeshi in Assam according to NRC.

Exclusion of people

• Draft NRC could lead to exclusion and inclusion errors and consequently large number of legitimate Indian citizens could end up being denied their voting and other rights.

Create communal clashes

• There is already lot of tension in Assam between Hindus and Muslims. Exclusion of some people might raise apprehensions of exclusion of a particular community creating new fault lines leading to social unrest and further communal tensions.

No deportation treaty

• It is been declared that illegal migrants out of the list of NRC will be sent back to Bangladesh however India does not have any deportation treaty with Bangladesh which will lead to further complexities.


                             So thus to put everything in a nutshell updating the national register of citizens is indeed a positive step but the actual success lies in its peaceful implementation. And the government must ensure that there shouldn’t be any more cross border infiltrations in the future and that the actual inhabitants of the state should be given what they deserve and what rightfully belongs to them.