In a pointed critique of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) recent manifesto alterations, Upamanyu Hazarika, the convener of Prabajan Virodhi Manch (PVM), lambasted the party for omitting any reference to the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Hazarika asserted that this omission signaled the abandonment of the aspirations of Assam and Northeast's indigenous people to protect their identity.
Hazarika underscored the significance of the NRC in discerning citizens from non-citizens, acting as a vital database for legal protections for individuals who were recognized as citizens in 1951. He lamented the Congress's historical encouragement of infiltration from Bangladesh, which, he claimed, has led to Assam's projected demographic shift towards a Bangladeshi-origin majority state by 2040 to 2051, according to various studies.
According to Hazarika, the NRC process, championed by the BJP, was crucial in safeguarding the cultural and linguistic identity of indigenous communities, as stated in the party's 2019 election manifesto. He emphasized that the NRC also played a pivotal role in implementing the Assam Accord's Clause 6 recommendations, which advocated for reservations of land and jobs based on the 1951 NRC database.
Hazarika criticized the BJP's 2024 manifesto for continuing its commitment to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) while neglecting the NRC. He argued that the only solution to safeguarding Assam's indigenous population is through the re-verification of the NRC, as all documents have been digitized, and previous coordinator Hitesh Dev Sharma has provided detailed reports on subversion and the re-verification process.
Furthermore, Hazarika contended saying, "The omission of the NRC from the BJP's agenda has left the people of Assam worse off, particularly after the sacrifices made during the mass agitation where 855 individuals lost their lives. He asserted that had the Assam agitation not occurred, the cutoff date for granting citizenship to migrants from erstwhile Pakistan would have been July 19,1948 and not March 25,1971 as per the Assam Accord. The IMDT Act, 1983 which prevented foreigners forming identified for Assam alone would not have been legislated. The process of identification of a foreigner would have been like the rest of the country through the law enforcement authorities, namely the Police and not through adjudication by Tribunals, making the process more protracted and difficult. The NRC process would not have been necessary, enabling foreigners to forge documents and get their names included. The CAA granting citizenship to a class of foreigners, already adding to the burden of infiltrators in Assam would probably not have been promulgated."
Ultimately, Hazarika placed blame on elected leaders who, in their pursuit of power, allegedly sacrificed the interests of their indigenous communities to court the Bangladeshi vote bank.
It may be mentioned that Upamanyu Hazarika's outspoken criticism highlights the contentious issue of indigenous rights and immigration policies in Assam, underscoring the complex interplay between political agendas and demographic shifts in the region.
