Where It Began
- Sharp rise in voters on the electoral rolls observed between 1977 and 1978 during Mongoldoi LS byelection
- AASU led the ‘Assam movement’ to stall the poll until “foreigners” removed from roll
- Thousands of Muslims were massacred in Nellie (Nagaon district) in 1983
- Accord signed in 1985 between the state, Centre and Assam movement leaders; March 25, 1971 made cut-off date for citizenship
Why The Urgency To Update NRC
- Festered for four decades without closure
- Pressure on land
- Political mileage from the issue
- Poor numbers of detection & deportation
- Continued suspicion based on religio-linguistic identity
Origins Of Bengali Muslims In Assam
- People moving due to pre-and post-Mughal conflict
- Colonial settlement of tea-estate workers
- East Bengal peasants settled to tackle food shortage
- Economic migration from East Pakistan
- Refugees fleeing state violence in East Pakistan till 1971
Ways Of Detecting Illegal Immigrants
- Basic “probe” by border police
- Doubtful or D-voter classification by election officials
- Both types referred to “foreigner tribunals”for adjudication; scant deportations
- NOW: NRC updation, monitored by Supreme Court
Citizen Records
- 1948-51: National Register for Citizens (census)
- 1951-66: Electoral rolls, land records
- 1966-71: Electoral rolls (but 10 years disenfranchisement from date of detection)
- 1971: March 25 is cut-off date for citizenship as per Assam Accord (1985)
How To Prove Your Citizenship
A. Legacy data documents
- 1951 National Register of Citizens
- Electoral rolls till 1971
B. Link documents* (Govt doc linking claimant to ancestor on legacy data)
- standard ID proof
- school certificate, birth certificate
- land documents, education certificates
- LIC policy, bank documents
- gram panchayat certificate
*list not exhaustive
Hurdles In Establishing Links
- illiteracy
- environmental migration
- lost/destroyed documents
- slight discrepancies in legacy documents
Politics Of Numbers (Of Illegal Bangladeshis)
- 1992 CM Hiteshwar Saikia: 3 million (U-turn after 2 days: “There are no illegal Bangladeshis in Assam.”
- 1992 PM P.V. Narasimha Rao remarks on “influx of Bangladeshis” as “root of Assam’s instability“
- 1997 CPI leader Indrajit Gupta: 10 million in Assam
- 2003 Defence Minister George Fernandes: 20 million in India
- 2004 MoS (Home) Sriprakash Jaiswal: 12 million (U-turn after controversy erupted)
- 2005 Assam Governor Ajai Singh: 6,000 per day
Graphic by Saji C.S.
