By Bhupen Goswami
GUWAHATI : The Asom Gana Parishad on Monday broke alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.AGP chief Atul Bora. The Asom Gana Parishad and the BJP are part of the coalition government in Assam along with the Bodoland People’s Front. The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 in order to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan if they have lived in India for six years, even if they do not possess the necessary documents.
The existing law states that “citizenship of India by naturalisation can be acquired by a foreigner (not illegal migrant) who is ordinarily resident in India for twelve years”.The decision came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in Silchar that his administration was working to ensure the law gets passed in Parliament. Addressing a rally on Friday, Modi claimed the legislation is meant to safeguard “all who had been victims of Partition”.
The Asom Gana Parishad had on Saturday reiterated that it would break away from the alliance if the Bill is tabled in Lok Sabha. Party founder and former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told Media persons on Monday that there is no reason for Asom Gana Parishad to continue its alliance with the BJP after the prime minister’s declaration. “The bill speaks of the double standard of the BJP-led central government,” Mahanta said. “On one hand the Supreme Court-monitored update of the National Register of Citizens, 1951, is underway and on the other, the government is trying to legalise the foreigners.”
The Assam Accord is within the Indian Constitution, he said. “Mocking the Assam Accord reflects the bankruptcy of these leaders and shows that these leaders are nothing but empty vessels which sound more. They are not aware of the history and struggle of Assam,” Mahanta added.While the AGP had been announcing that it will break the alliance if the BJP goes ahead with the Citizenship Bill, pressure was mounting on it to break ties with the BJP. In a house of 126, BJP along with its allies Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front have 86 seats, of which 60 belong to the BJP, 14 to the AGP and 12 to the BPF. So, the AGP pulling out does not seem to pose a threat to the government. But, with the Lok Sabha elections looming large, this can have massive repercussion in Upper Assam, where Assamese identity has often been the main poll plank in every election.
