Mancha slams BJP initiative 'Why has the BJP decided to take 1951 instead of 1971 as the cut-off year,' said Adip Phukan

Adip Phukan (centre) addresses the news conference in Guwahati on Thursday.Picture by Rokibuz Zaman

Rokibuz Zaman, TT, 22.11.19,Guwahati: The Asom Songrami Mancha, a regional political party, on Thursday said the BJP was planning to create communal tension in the name of new National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

Its working president Adip Phukan said: “Why has the ruling BJP after 34 years of the Assam Accord decided to take 1951 instead of 1971 as the cut-off year to detect and deport foreigners who are only Muslims?”

On Wednesday Union home minister Amit Shah announced in Parliament that the NRC exercise would be carried out again in Assam. Soon afterwards, BJP leader Himanta Biswas Sarma said the current NRC in Assam, released on August 31, was unacceptable.

The cut-off date for inclusion in the NRC was March 24, 1971 as decided in the 1985 Assam Accord. Altogether 19.06 lakh applicants were excluded from the final NRC.

Phukan said: “According to the BJP, Muslims who came after 1951 are foreigners while Hindus who came between 1951 and 2014 are Indian citizens. By bringing the Hindu Bangladeshis the BJP is rejecting the Assam Accord. This will lead to communal tension in the state. When Trinamul MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy pointed out that out of the 19 lakh people excluded from the NRC in Assam, around 11 lakh are Bengali Hindus, the BJP decided to reject the NRC to appease the Hindus.”

Phukan added: “Shah also reinforced the Centre’s stand that Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis who have left Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan because of religious persecution should get Indian citizenship. By bringing the new NRC, the BJP is trying to keep alive the illegal influx problem in Assam.”

He said: “From 2012 to 2016, each year 66, 22, 24, nine and 13 illegal immigrants were deported. After the BJP came to power, deportation has stopped and in the name of foreigners’ citizenship the ruling BJP has started a political game.

“People who came before formation of Bangladesh have been accepted and they have contributed in creation of Assamese society. Why is the BJP trying to create chaos in Assam?”

Phukan said an “error” in NRC should be rectified but no political party can reject or cancel NRC for political gains. He said the BJP should “stop polarising politics”.