Protests erupt in Assam as first CAA beneficiary granted citizenship

Protests erupt in Assam as first CAA beneficiary granted Indian citizenship, sparking backlash against BJP and allies.

GUWAHATI

At least 400 people, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, were granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) of 2019 before Bangladesh-born Dulon Das.

Unlike the case of the others elsewhere in the country, his status as the first to become a beneficiary of the CAA in the northeast has triggered protests in Assam since the Centre confirmed his citizenship at 3.41 p.m. on August 13.

Several political parties and students’ organisations have slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies at the Centre and in Assam for going against the spirit of the Assam Accord of 1985 to legitimise foreigners who entered the country illegally as Indians.

The CAA offers fast-track Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims who entered the country from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan before December 31, 2014. In Assam, the law contradicts the 1985 accord, which allows citizenship to foreigners who have lived in the State before March 25, 1971.

The midnight of March 27, 1971, was the cut-off date for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The complete draft of this register, published in August 2019, excluded 19.06 lakh people out of 3.3 crore applicants for failing to provide proper documents to establish their citizenship.

“Settling Hindu immigrants is in line with the BJP’s communal agenda for votes, even if it means going against an accord the people of Assam are sentimental about. Our party wants the Assam Accord to be implemented in letter and spirit so that all post-1971 foreigners are detected and deported,” senior Congress leader and MLA Debabrata Saikia said.