India has passed a new law, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, which fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from India’s three neighbouring Muslim-majority countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Under the new law, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees (anyone except Muslims) who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, and has lived in India for six years, can apply for Indian citizenship.
In last one week, protests mostly led by young students have rocked the country against the new law that discriminates on the basis of religion.
But a small state in the country’s northeast, Assam, which has become the epicentre of protests, is opposing the new law for an entirely different reason than the rest of the country.
Assam, known for its wildlife and tea production, has seen a steady influx of migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh since the 1970s and the issue has plagued the local state politics for over four decades now.
Ayesha Renna (C) and other protesters argue with policemen during a demonstration against the Indian government's Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in New Delhi. Source: Getty
An uprising in the state against migrants led to Indian government signing the Assam Accord with the leaders of the anti-migrant movement in 1985 where it was agreed India would identify and deport illegal immigrants who came after March 25, 1971.
The new citizenship law (CAA) has now extended this cut-off date to 2014, thus allowing more immigrants to become eligible for Indian citizenship.
The new cut-off date has led to widespread protests among members of the Assamese community in India and across the world, including Australia.
Members of the community gathered at the Indian consulate in Melbourne on Thursday morning to register their protest against the new citizenship law.
Source: SBS Hindi
“We do not want CAA to be implemented in Assam at all. We do not want any more illegal immigrants. Assam has already taken in a lot of immigrants and we do not have the infrastructure to take in more,” Jonali Handique Gogoi, a member of the Assamese community told SBS Hindi at the protest.
Rangam Rajkhowa, a member of the Assamese community living in Melbourne said the Indian Government should honour the Assam Accord.
“The new law violates the accord. Keep Assam out of this Act,” Mr Rajkhowa said.
Mr Rajkhowa said the community is concerned the influx of migrants has diminished their linguistic, cultural, political identity and affected their land rights, job opportunities and local economy.
“It is more about preserving our culture and our identity. We need to preserve our cultural, indigenous identity and also our local economy,” he said.
The group handed over a memorandum to the Consul General of India in Melbourne.
“We are against the new law and we want our message to reach the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Minister of Assam and the Minister of External Affairs,” Ms Lupa Borah told SBS Hindi.
ALSO ON SBS HINDI:
भारत में नागरिकता (संशोधन) बिल का विरोध तेज, कई जगह कर्फ्यू
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has assured people of Assam that the Government is committed to constitutionally safeguarding the political, linguistic, cultural heritage of Assamese people.
According to the of India, India had 5.1 million migrants with about 97 per cent having migrated from eight neighbouring countries including Afghanistan.
Of these migrants, 3 million were from Bangladesh, 0.9 million from Pakistan, 0.5 million from Nepal and 0.1 million from Sri Lanka.
