Delhi promises justice as many Muslims fear being left off citizen list

Published July 23, 2018
A woman carrying her son checks her name on the draft list of the National Register of Citizens at a centre in Assam.—Reuters
A woman carrying her son checks her name on the draft list of the National Register of Citizens at a centre in Assam.—Reuters

NEW DELHI: India said on Sunday people whose names are missing from a list of citizens to be issued by a border state this month will not be detained, amid concerns that Muslims will be targeted under the guise of detecting illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

“We will ensure that every individual gets justice and is treated in a humane manner. All individuals will have sufficient opportunity for all remedies available under the law,” Rajnath Singh, India’s interior minister, said in a statement.

“Any person who is not satisfied with the outcome of claims and objections can appeal in the Foreigners Tribunal. Thus, there is no question of anyone being put in a detention centre after the publication of NRC (national register of citizens).”

For an update of the NRC to be made public on July 30, all residents of Assam state in the northeast have had to show documents proving they or their families lived in the country before March 24, 1971, to be recognised as Indian citizens. The exercise has created panic among many Muslims in Assam because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, which came to power in the state for the first time in 2016, vowed during the election campaign to act against illegal Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh.

Rights activists say the drive is also targeting Muslims who are Indian citizens, a charge the government denies.

Singh also said Assam had been asked to step up security so no one was harassed in the name of citizenship, and that there was no reason for panic.

Citizenship and illegal migration are volatile issues in tea-growing and oil-rich Assam, home to more than 32 million people, about a third of whom are Muslims.

Hundreds of people were killed in the 1980s in a violent protest by a native Assamese group.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled to India from Bangladesh after it declared independence from Pakistan in 1971, setting off a nine-month civil war. Most of them settled in Assam and the neighbouring state of West Bengal, where there are similar demands to send back illegal Muslim immigrants.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2018

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...