Mumbai:
After protests and acts of arson spread across Assam and other North-Eastern state’s, the fire of protests over the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2019 that was passed in the Rajya Sabha on December 11, the CAB fire threatens to ensnare the National Capital Region (NCR) as New Delhi heads for Assembly election in February 2020. The reason for the rioting to begin in New Delhi on Sunday evening is quite obvious as the NCR is home to second largest migrated population of minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh, which the CAB seeks to give these illegal immigrants Indian citizenship.
The CAB seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted minority faiths of Hindu, Sikh Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsis who have come illegally into India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In his reply to both the houses of the Parliament, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah has quite categorically stated that the CAB is a law that gives citizenship and does not take it away. He further assured that the CAB in no way affects the rights of the minority Muslim community in the country.
But what has baffled critics and others alike is the protests and arson that engulfed Assam and other North-Eastern state’s, where the CAB is not applicable. As per the provisions of the CAB, “the bill seeks to protect the constitutional guarantee given to the indigenous population of the North-Eastern state’s covered under the Sixth schedule to the Constitution and the statutory protection given to areas covered under “The Inner Line” permit system of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873”.
The bill further states that the CAB does not apply to the Tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. The Inner Line permit regulates the visits of Indian’s to Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
What is interesting to note here is that as per the 2001 Census data, maximum number of illegal immigrants mostly from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have entered India and settled in about 16 state’s. These 16 state’s include – Maharashtra, New Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh , Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
It is also rather ironical and important o note here is that the Census of India is yet to release the “Migration” data of the 2011 Census. When one tries to access the data on Migration of population within India and from neighbouring countries, the static response is “Data Not Yet Released”. All this, even as the Census of India has already begun preparing for the 2021 Census.
The major populations of illegal immigrants state-wise is as follows: Maharashtra 79,54,038, New Delhi 56,46,277, West Bengal 55,82,325, Uttar Pradesh 29,72,111, Haryana 29,51,752, Gujarat 26,02,631, Madhya Pradesh 23,05,999, Karnataka 21,52,096, Punjab 21,30662, Rajasthan 18,45,782, Jharkhand 17,98,037, Bihar 17,94,219, Andhra Pradesh 10,52,165, Chhattisgarh 10,20,337 and Kerala 32,077.
It is important to note here that these illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan date back from the times of the India-Pakistan partition in 1947 and the Bangladeshi refugee influx due to the India-Pakistan Bangladesh war in 1971. Most of them have come here more than 20 years ago. The largest influx of illegal immigrants over the years has been from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
As per the Census of India data available of the 2001 Census, in all 51,55,423 illegal international migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have sought refuge in India over the years. The country-wise illegal immigrants data is as follows – Afghanistan 9,194, Bangladesh 30,84,826, Bhutan 8,337, China 23,721, Myanmar 49,086, Nepal 5,96,696, Pakistan 9,97,106 and Sri Lanka 1,49,300.
If one were to consider the age group wise migration of illegal immigrants from these countries, the maximum illegal immigrants are within the age groups of 35 to 39 years and those above 60 years of age. The age group wise data is as follows: 15-24 years 4,34,648 (7.01%), 25-34 years 6,64,932 (10.8 %), 35-39 years 25,72,225 (41.7 %) and 60 years and above 22,85,351 (37.1 %).
From the above data is quite evident as to why Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amrinder Singh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath have termed the CAB as “unconstitutional” and announced that they will not implement it in their state.
In Maharashtra too, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is under pressure from his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to oppose CAB and not implement it in Maharashtra. However, according to senior officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the state government’s have no powers to reject the implementation of the CAB as the law was enacted under the Union List of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution.
