The history of the 1985 accord!
The 1985 Assam accord was a culmination of six-year agitation launched by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) in 1979 which paved the way for identification and deportation of illegal immigrants from Assam. As per the agreement, it was decided that all illegal infiltrators who entered the state between January 1966 and March 1971 would be disenfranchised for a period of 10 years, and those who came after March 1971 would be deported. And those who came to Assam prior to January 1, 1966, would be given Indian citizenship.
It emerges from the historical facts that signing the accord on paper was one thing for Congress while implementing it truthfully was another. Congress slept over the accord for considerable time and the provisions of the Assam accord were never implemented for a period of around 20 years. Later on, another agreement was signed in 2005 between the Congress lead centre government, the Assam government and the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and a decision was taken to update the NRC on the basis of NRC 1951 and electoral rolls up to 1971. A two-year deadline was also fixed to complete the exercise and a pilot project was launched in some districts. However, it soon ended with the eruption of violent agitations by groups opposed to such exercise and the NRC updation was halted. In 2009 Assam Public Works (APW), an NGO had filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding identification of Bangladeshi foreigners in the State and deletion of their names from the voters’ list. Finally, the Supreme Court ordered the government in 2013 to complete the exercise by December 31, 2017. This has led to the present updation of NRC over which political leaders and the protectors of law & order are threatening their country men of civil war & bloodbath if the NRC is implemented.
Now why opposition are opposing the NRC? It's pure appeasement politics of vote bank and nothing else. They all see twin benefits in opposing the NRC. One, to consolidate their Muslim vote bank in India and two, garnering the additional vote bank of those 40 lakh infiltrators if they get Indian citizenship. They don't have any other considerations like human rights or helping the needy poor people who have made India their home illegally. They talk of it but it is only a leap service for people's consumption. Their hearts never bleed for Kashmiri pundits who are forced to become refugee in their own country after they were forcefully evicted from Kashmir. Of-course their hearts again bleeds for the Rohingya Muslims whom they want to settle in India. They too have a potential to be a captive vote bank in future and is integral part of the twin benefits. They never threaten a civil war if corruption is not rooted out from the politics and country. Their hearts never bleed for poor homeless Indians sleeping on pavements and leading inhuman lives in slums. They never threatened a civil war to uplift the poor Indian citizens and dying farmers. The poor, the homeless, the jobless, the dalits and the downtroddens are the political tools in their hands to use them and throw them when the need is over. The need is only the votes. And for votes, they can throw the poor in fire, can create mass agitations & riots and burn public & state properties and the cities.
And of-course the national interest come very late in their priorities. They can compromise the national interests for political gains. They can come in support of terrorists and attackers of parliament. They can shake hands with separatists and even ask help from enemy country to remove a democratically elected prime minister. They can call chief of our army as 'sadak ka gunda'. Power is the only consideration in their mind and everything else either comes very late or has zero value in their scheme of things.
The draft NRC in Assam is one step and is subject to correction through a process of rectification. India's soverignity, integrity and right of its native citizens is prime most and cannot be compromised. India is already engulfed with many internal problems and the country cannot afford to add another to its cup and share it's precious resources with illegal infiltrators. Why only Assam, the illegal Bangladeshi migrants are spread all over India with high percentage in states like West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra etc. As per the government estimate, presently India is having over 20 millions illegal Bangladeshis living in India. So why not we have a nation wide NRC? It's seems to be impossible in the current scenario of vote bank politics where the desh bhaktas and desh rakshaks are turning to desh bhakshaks just to grab power and remain stuck with it.
The time will only tell which way the storm of Assam NRC, will blew the political cup!
