Contentious issues

 Contentious issues such as Citizens Amendment Bill(CAB) introduced in 2016 (but withdrawn) and   the National Register of Citizens (NRC) have split society along religious and communal lines. The CAB  introduced to  the Lok Sabha on July 15, 2016, seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide citizenship to illegal immigrants, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian extraction. However, the Act doesn’t have a provision for Muslim sects like Shias and Ahmediyas who also face persecution in Pakistan. The BJP had promised to grant citizenship to Hindus persecuted in the neighbouring countries during the 2014 General Election. In the party’s election manifesto, the BJP had promised to welcome Hindu refugees and give shelter to them.  On the other hand, the National Register of Citizens(NRC) which was conducted in Assam to identify bona fide citizens and  illegal immigrants.  NRC was conducted in Assam under the order of the Supreme Court of India, to detect Bangladeshi nationals who might have entered the state illegally after the midnight of March 24, 1971. The date was decided in the 1985 Assam Accord, signed between the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the AASU. The NRC was first published after the 1951 Census in the independent India when parts of Assam went to the East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The first draft of the updated list was concluded by December 31, 2017. The second draft was published on August 31, 2019. Against the backdrop of the high decibel xenophobia over illegal immigrants   in the north east, the outcome of the NRC exercise in Assam has proved to be a flop.  Most of those left out among the 19 lakh people happened to be Bengali speaking Hindus, most of who had voted for BJP in the 2016 assembly election and the subsequent 2019 Lok Sabha election. On the other hand, the other contentious issue, CAB issue has rocked the north eastern states since granting citizenship to immigrants pose serious threat on the demography. There have been protests across the region against the CAB. The BJP said CAB was now necessary since over 19 lakh people majority being Indians, were excluded in the final NRC published on August 31, 2019. It has also alleged that not accepting refugee certificate issued prior 1971 has resulted in the exclusion of large number of Bengali Hindu, Koch Rajbonshi and Buddhist people from final NRC. The NDA partners ruling various states- Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya- have also raised serious concerns with the centre. Earlier on September 9 at the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA)conclave Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio had cautioned the home minister that states will oppose any attempt to push through legislation of CAB as it would pose serious threats on demography. Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma had also urged upon Amit Shah to take into confidence the concerns in the region and ensure the CAB reflects these concerns. In his meetings with NGOs opposed to CAB in Mizoram, Amit Shah has assured that certain clauses would be included in the proposed CAB to assuage the fears of the north eastern states. However, Shah’s vow to implement NRC in Bengal has already set the political kettle boiling and that’s how BJP would like things to be.