Following Union Minister Amit Shah‘s recent announcement to enforce the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) rules before the Lok Sabha elections, demonstrations against the CAA have resurfaced in Assam after a four-year hiatus. On Thursday, police detained 10 activists from Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and its students’ wing, the Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti (SMSS), in Dhubri, Tinsukia and Hailakandi.

In Dhubri, KMSS and SMSS activists gathered on the streets, raising slogans against the CAA. While five of them were initially detained by the police, they were later released, along with one KMSS protester in Hailakandi. However, four KMSS activists detained in Tinsukia district were still awaiting release at the time of this report.

A police official in Dhubri stated that the detentions in Dhubri were a preventive measure to avoid any chaotic situations in public places.

In Guwahati, the KMSS organised a sit-in protest against the CAA.

Opposition to CAA in Assam unlike what the rest of India witnessed

Assam experienced violent protests soon after the CAA became a law in December 2019. The decision to implement such a law caused significant unrest in the state, resulting in widespread violence in Guwahati and five deaths due to police action.

In upper Assam, hundreds of KMSS and Nari Mukti Sangram Samiti (NMSS) members staged a protest in Tinsukia. The protesters said forcefully that the state should not be treated as a dumping ground for foreigners.

Lakhyajyoti Gogoi, a KMSS leader, said that the CAA issue deeply concerned every Assamese. He further stated that the union government was attempting to impose the CAA on the province without the consent of its people, and the movement would persist until the law was withdrawn. The burden of any Bangladeshi entering the state after 1971, regardless of their religion, is something they refuse to bear.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma emphasised that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been democratically passed in the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha. He further stated that those who did not accept or support the CAA could approach the Supreme Court for recourse.

The chief minister questioned the benefits of resorting to agitation and taking the state of Assam towards a different path. He acknowledged that people had the right to either support or oppose the CAA but said that the solution lay within the judicial system rather than on the streets through protests.

The CAA faced opposition in the state from various groups and parties, including the BJP’s ally, AGP, who challenged it in the Supreme Court. AGP leader Phani Bhusan Choudhury reiterated their firm stance against the CAA despite being in alliance with the BJP.

The CAA, an amendment to the Citizenship Act of 1955, grants Indian citizenship to persecuted individuals belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan until 2014.

The people of Assam have expressed their opposition to the CAA since its inception, expressing concerns about demographic changes and the impact on the region’s cultural and social fabric.

Critics argue that the CAA undermines the Assam Accord of 1985, which aimed to safeguard the indigenous population of the state and prevent further demographic changes. To Assam, it is less of a question of the Hindu-Muslim demographic balance and more of a question of nativity. The activists who had forced the Rajiv Gandhi government to call for a truce with the accord were equally peeved with the presence of bona fide Indian Bengalis living in their state.

A different citizenship law applies here

The Assam Accord, signed on 15 August 1985, is a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) between the Government of India, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP). This agreement effectively put an end to a six-year agitation (1979-1985) aimed at identifying, disenfranchising, and deporting “illegal” residents from the state of Assam.

One of the key provisions of the accord was the establishment of January 1, 1966, as the cut-off date for the identification and removal of foreigners. Additionally, it granted citizenship to individuals who had migrated to the state from the “Specified Territory” before the aforementioned cut-off date.

Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1995, was introduced as a special provision for Assam following the 1985 accord. This provision states that “illegal” migrants who arrived in the state before January 1966 would be eligible for citizenship. Furthermore, individuals who arrived between January 1996 and March 1971 would be eligible for citizenship after 10 years.