A tactical retreat

When the highly controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 could not be tabled after the Rajya Sabha as it had to be adjourned sine die following huge disruption by opposition members on Wednesday, there were jubilations across the north east by those who had steadfastly opposed the bill. This was the last session of the Rajya Sabha before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. As pre-scheduled, Home Minister Rajnath Singh was scheduled to present the bill which could not be tabled as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, M. Venkiah Naidu adjourned the house in the afternoon. The bill evoked so much emotion that civil society organisations had gone to the extent of warning Delhi( the Modi government) that the situation could go out of control if the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha. The bill seeks to allow citizenship to illegal Hindu migrants from Bangladesh who came to the state after March 1971, is a violation of the Assam Accord, 1985. Moreover, these citizens gain permanent citizenship after six years of residency in India instead of 11 years — as mentioned in the Citizenship Act (1955.) The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8 after it was moved by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Had the bill been cleared in the upper house, then it would have become a law. The CAB seeks to grant nationality to Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians and Jains but not muslims, who fled from the three neighbouring countries – Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan from religious persecution and entered India before December 31, 2014 . This has led to widespread protests in Assam and the other north eastern states who have raised strong objections about discriminating against immigrants and said that no infiltrator, irrespective of their religion, should be given citizenship rights.The BJP in the north east which heads the North East Democratic Alliance(NEDA) under Ram Madhav and his assistant and Assam education and medical minister Himanta Bishwa Sharma, faced serious setbacks when the NPP-led coalition government with BJP in Meghalaya, BJP ally MNF heading the government in Mizoram and the BJP-led coalition government in Manipur, passed resolutions rejecting the bill. The BJP was perhaps taken aback by the intense opposition against the CAB where a coalition government it headed in Manipur, also rejected the bill. February 12 was supposed to be the day that the CAB would be tabled but it extended to the next day. Even on the following day, the CAB was not tabled after the chairman of the house Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the house. That was a clear indication that the BJP decided against pushing for enactment. BJP had thought it could wean away other parties to support the bill in the Rajya Sabha but the NDA tally of 89 seats out of 245 was reduced when the Shiv Sena (3) and JDU(6) opposed the bill. Even if the BJP managed to win support of AIADMK(12) and YSRC(2) it would not have helped. Perhaps if BJP returns to power in the 2019 elections, it could restart the process and by which time, its tally in the upper house could significantly increase. In such a scenario, not only the CAB but various issues such as uniform and common civil code and others could be enacted to change the face of India forever.