Guwahati, Oct 20: While political parties in Assam have supported the Supreme Court ruling on Citizenship Act, Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has a different viewpoint altogether.
“Supreme Court’s ruling on the base year for citizenship in Assam can not be termed “historic” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today told reporters in Guwahati.
“The majority of Assam’s people wanted 1951 to be the base year. This verdict is a mixed feeling of both joy and sorrow” Sarma added .
Supreme Court had upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act which grants Indian citizenship to immigrants who came to Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal migration.
The majority verdict held that cut off date of March 25, 1971 for entry into Assam and granting citizenship is correct.
Section 6A of the Citizenship Act grants Indian citizenship benefits to illegal immigrants – mostly from Bangladesh, who entered Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971.
The provision was incorporated in 1985 following the signing of the Assam Accord between the Rajiv Gandhi government at the Centre and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU).
It says those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from specified territories, including Bangladesh, in accordance with the Citizenship Act amended in 1985, and since then are residents of the northeastern state, must register themselves under Section 18 for acquiring Indian citizenship
The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), one of the signatories of the Assam Accord of 1985, has also welcomed the Supreme Court judgement regarding the pact’s cut-off date and said it re-established the “rationality” of the historic agreement.
AASU and others described the judgment as “historic” and appealed to the government to implement the Accord, while the original petitioner Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha (ASM) termed the ruling as “unfortunate”, saying it will make the state a “dumping ground” for foreigners.
The ruling BJP, were cautious and said the government would now think how to safeguard the interest of the indigenous people of Assam.
Matiur Rahman, who filed the original petition in the SC on behalf of ASM, said he was not expecting such a verdict. The Assam-based organisation wanted 1951 and not 1971, which is the year fixed in the Assam Accord, as the cut-off year for the detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants in Assam.
