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VOLUME 2 : ISSUE 4
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WHITE BLACK LEGAL: THE LAW JOURNAL

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CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT AND THE

ASSAM ACCORD
(By Varun A. Sharma)

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT, 2020

The Citizen (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced and passed in the parliament of India
during the last month of 2019. The bill was aimed to amend the Citizenship Amendment Act,
1955 which regulated the procedures and governed the complete process of granting of
citizenship to any person in the country. The bill added a proviso under Section 2(1)(b),
wherein the proviso stated that any person belonging to the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Parsi
or Christian Community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan who entered into India on
or before the 31st day of December, 2014 and who has been exempted by the Central
Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into
India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any
rule or order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrant. However, the act
completely failed to mention muslims in its clauses.

Earlier, to obtain citizenship through naturalization, a person was required to have lived in the
country for the past 12 months and for atleast 11 out of the previous 14 years. However, this
amendment also reduces the required 11 years to a minimum of 5 years for the people belonging
to the above mentioned religions, from the 3 countries.

The bill triggered wide spread protests, demonstrations and political debates in the country.
The Amendment has been criticized on various accounts such as the blatant and arbitrary
exclusion of the Muslim community, and the favourable changes for the mentioned religious
communities, the ignorance of the fact that even in the neighbouring Muslim majority
communities there are various sects of muslims who are persecuted. Also, the non-inclusion of
migrants from non-muslim countries who are fleeing their countries to escape persecution, like
the Hindu refugees from Sri Lanka was highly lamented upon by the general public of the
country soon after the bill was passed in the Parliament.

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HISTORY OF ASSAM ACCORD

After India gained independence in 1947 from the 200 year old colonial rule, freeing itself from
the shackles and atrocities that it had been subjected to at the hands of the British, the modern
state of Bangladesh (then referred to as East Pakistan) came under the control of Pakistan. From
the very beginning, the state of Pakistan had been established as an Islamic state, wherein
majority of its population followed Islam and it was also the state religion, thus far away from
the ideals of democracy that had been adopted by the framers of the Indian constitution. East
Pakistan was no exception, thus, since the people belonging to Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism
and other non-Islamic religions were in minority, their troubles had not ended with the end of
the British rule.

The state of Pakistan (both West and East) used to follow a policy of religious discrimination
and religion based persecution; wherein the state through its police and armed forces used to
engage in active genocide of the people belonging to the minorities. Facing the brunt of the
state propelled persecution and burdened with the lack of essentials available to the minorities,
they were left with no other option but to flee to India to seek refuge and safeguard their lives.
As a result soon after 1947, the refugees from the state of East Pakistan started pouring in huge
numbers into the bordering states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, etc. Due to this continuous
influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh into the neighbouring states, the economy and
the cultural heritage of these states and their natives was hampered. This compelled the
government of India to enact “The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950” as a
measure to safeguard the natives of the state of Assam who were being burdened with the influx
of these illegal immigrants. The Central Government observed that due to the increase in the
number of illegal immigrants, the economy and the law and order situation of the state was in
grave danger and their intervention was needed. Thus, this bill would empower them to
carefully tackle and curb the arising situation.

However, during the period after independence and till the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971,
a large number of people illegally entered India through the vast riverine border that
Bangladesh and Assam share. As a result, the identity of the natives of Assam and the security
of the nation were deeply undermined, and this led to the massive widespread of insurgency
in the state. To counter the ill effects of the widespread illegal immigration and to protect the
rights of the native Assamese, the All Assam Students Union first submitted a memorandum
to Smt. Indira Gandhi (former Prime Minister of India) to bring her up to speed about the
concerns of the citizens and to submit their representations to her. The Parliament then enacted

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the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983, which was applicable only to the
state of Assam, with a view of determining and deporting the illegal immigrants from the
country. However, this parliamentary measure did not yield the necessary results and the
problem due to the illegal immigrants continued.

The years 1979-1985 saw an uprising of the natives of Assam, who rose against the inefficiency
of the Central and State governments and against the problems caused due to the illegal
immigrants. The region witnessed wide spread protests, strikes and series of aggressive
demonstrations during that time, which were aimed to compel the Central and State
government to take appropriate action against the mounting issue and to safeguard the citizen’s
constitutional rights. Initially in 1980, due to the consistent influx of illegal immigrants, the All
Assam Student Union first submitted their representation to the then Prime Minister of India,
and as a result the Illegal Immigrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983 was enacted by
the parliamentary which failed to fulfil its purpose. Then after nearly six years of agitation, on
the day of 5th August, 1985, a Memorandum of Settlement was signed between the leaders of
All Assam Students Union and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad and the Central
Government of India, which was called as the “Assam Accord”. This memorandum was signed
in New Delhi and it brought an official end to the agitation by the Assamese people.

The people of Assam whole-heartedly welcomed the settlement as it was a beacon of hope for
them, which promised them a better future, free from the menace of illegal immigrants
encroaching upon their land and violating their indigenous rights. In the subsequent elections,
the political party (Asom Gana Parishad) headed by the leaders of the agitation won majority
of the seats and formed their own government in the state of Assam. The Accord has numerous
clauses in it, of which a few are essential for achieving the purpose which was originally sought,
some of them are:

I. Clause 5 of the Assam Accord deals with the ‘Foreigner Issues’; it contains various
timelines which categorizes the people who had entered Assam during a particular time
period, and also provides for the treatment to be rendered to such individuals.
II. Clause 6 of the Assam Accord promises the natives that the state shall protect and
promote their cultural, linguistic, social and other allied interests.
III. Clause 7 of the Assam Accord renews the promise by the government that there shall
be economic development in the state of Assam, and their standard of living would be
improved with special emphasis on the educational and technological sector of the state.

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IV. Clause 8 of the Assam Accord deals with the issuance of citizenship certificates by the
Central government of India.
V. Clause 9 of the Assam Accord aims to tackle the major factor contributing to the
massive illegal immigration by securing the international border between Assam and
Bangladesh with appropriate measures like barbed wires and fences, along with the
appropriate number of check posts. Also, the proposal to build a road along the
international border was taken up under this clause.
VI. Clause 10 and Clause 11 of the Assam Accord relate to the reinforcement of improved
land laws in the state.
VII. Clause 12 of the Assam Accord mandated the procedure of maintaining an accurate
record of births and deaths in the region.
VIII. Clause 13 of the Assam Accord was the key clause which facilitated the closure of the
widespread agitation and promised a better future to the people of Assam.
Thus, the Assam accord was a Memorandum of Settlement signed between representatives
of the Government of India and the State of Assam, which brought an end to the ongoing
agitations in the north-eastern region of India and was aimed at restoring peace and
protection of the rights of the indigenous people of India by detecting and deporting the
illegal immigrants back to Bangladesh in consonance with the provisions of the Accord.
Moreover, it was after the adoption of this Accord, that Section 6A was added in the
Citizenship Act, 1955 through an amendment. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of
the amendment clearly showcased the government’s attempt to curb the menace of illegal
immigrants in the state of Assam through the introduction of Section 6A in the Citizenship
Act, 1955.

MAJOR JUDICIAL DECISIONS

The issue of illegal immigrants flooding in from Bangladesh into Assam became a national
concern and was the headline of every national daily during that time period. Hence, the matter
came before the honourable Supreme Court of India multiple times in various cases. The two
landmark judgements of the Supreme Court of India regarding the Assam Accord are
mentioned hereinunder:

1. In the case of Sarbananda Sonowal vs Union of India & anr1., the honourable Supreme
Court of India had remarked that there is no doubt on the fact that the State of Assam

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Sarbananda Sonowal vs Union of India & anr, AIR 2005 SC 292

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is being faced with external aggression and internal disturbances on account of the
massive illegal immigrant population pouring into the state from Bangladesh. The
massive migrant population has infused a sense of insecurity into the lives of the people
of Assam and deprived them off their basic livelihood. It has also hampered the growth
of the state despite the presence of rich natural resources, the major efforts of the state
government are used up in countering the insurgency in the state. This creates an
impression in the minds of the people that the north eastern states of India are disturbed
areas which are not suitable for investment, thus the employment creation is also
adversely affected in the state.
They also remarked that it was the duty of the Union of India to undertake appropriate
measures to handle the situation as it was their duty cast upon them by the virtue of
Article 355 of the India Constitution, which states that it shall be the duty of the Union
to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure
that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of
this Constitution.

2. Moreover, in the case of Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha and Others vs. Union of India
& ors2., the honourable Supreme Court of India had observed that the Union had done
little to curb the illegal immigrant menace, and owing to their inefficiency the
sovereignty and integrity of the whole nation was at stake. The continuous influx of
illegal immigrants has resulted in changed demography of the eastern states, especially
Assam and has damaged the constitutional values of the country. Owing to this influx,
there have been innumerable clashes amongst the population, leading to loss of both
life and property. The court had issues directions to the Union and State governments
to detect foreigners belonging to the stream of 1.1.1966 to 24.3.1971 and to detect and
deport all illegal migrants who had come to the State of Assam on or after 25.3.1971.
Thereinafter the court also remarked that this inefficiency of the government was a
violation of the rights vested to the citizens under Article 21 and Article 29 of the
constitution. The culture of the people of Assam was being eroded and their life being
endangered.

Thus, in both the above mentioned landmark judgements, the court had observed and remarked
on the gravity of the situation caused due to the influx of illegal immigrants, lamented on the

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Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha And Others Vs. Union Of India & Ors , Writ Petition (CIVIL) No. 562 OF 2012

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conduct and inefficiency of the Central and State governments, and shown their concern
regarding the erosion of the constitutional values of sovereignty and integrity.

CAA IN CONTRAVENTION OF THE ASSAM ACCORD

The main aim of the Assam Accord was to restore peace and harmony in the states that had
been adversely affected by the massive illegal immigration from Bangladesh, however, the
settlement did not yield the desired results, and the issues was not effectively curbed. The
Governor of the State of Assam in his report (dated 08.11.1998) sent to the President of India,
had specifically mentioned that the huge influx of the illegal immigrants into the state of Assam
has adversely affected the demography of the state, ruined the lives of the natives and tribal
populations, and also continues to threaten the strategical importance of various districts of the
state.

However, Section 2 of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2020 gives the Central Government
extensive powers to exclude a particular class of people, differentiated on the basis of their
religion from being termed and treated as illegal immigrants in India. Not only is this
classification arbitrary and in contravention to the rights of the immigrants granted to them by
the Constitution of India, but also is in direct contravention of clause 5.8 of the Assam Accord,
which mentions the process of detection and deportation of the illegal immigrants from India
who had entered the country on or after 25th March, 1971.

The Central government through this Amendment aims to give blanket immunity to a few
religious communities from being deported under the provisions of the Assam Accord, by
altering the ambit of the term “illegal immigrants’. The Central Government also turns a blind
eye to the existing menace caused due to the huge population of the illegal immigrants in the
state of Assam, which has been continuously causing external aggression and internal
disturbances in the state, hampering the livelihood of the natives of Assam. This menace has
proven to be detrimental for the advancement and modernization of the state as majority of its
resources are spent to curb the issue.

Even though the claim made behind the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act,
2020 is a noble one, that it is a safeguard for the migrants who are fleeing their country avoiding
religious persecution, still the said act remains arbitrary in some of its provisions. Moreover,
since the interests of the migrants are in direct contrast to the interests of the people of Assam,
the act stands in contravention to the 35 year old Assam Accord.

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CONCLUSION
Owing to the public outrage and distrust in the government, various writ petitions have been
filed before the Honourable Supreme Court of India and various High Courts, challenging the
constitutional validity of the said amendment act, and notices have been issued on many of
them. Thus, it is now for the judiciary to adjudicate upon this matter of dispute and to find out
an amicable solution to this mounting issue, by utilizing its fine sense of judgement and acting
upon its promise of being the ‘Guardian of the Constitution’.

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