Citizenship of 4 million people living in India is at stake, the National Register of Citizens (National Register of Citizens) released by the Government of India on July 30, 2018. Residing in northeastern India4 million peoplewere removed from this national registry. The National Register only lists citizens who meet the condition of "having been proved to have resided in India by March 24, 1971. Why does the Indian government set such a condition? We will look at the problems facing the northeastern region of India that lie behind this decision.
Polling station in India (Photo: Public.Resource.Org/Flickr [CC BY 2.0])
Immigration Issues in the Background
In the National Registry case discussed at the beginning of this article, it was people from the northeastern region of India who were struck off the list. Why were people from this region targeted? One of the reasons is the immigration problem facing northeastern India.
The northeastern part of India in question borders Bangladesh, which has a Muslim majority, and Bhutan, which has a Buddhist majority. Because of this geography, northeastern India has historically seen a large influx of immigrants. During the 19th century, when the region was a British colony, many immigrants from India and abroad came to the northeast in order to secure labor for the tea plantations.population movementstook place. In particular, immigrants from East Bengal (*1) had skills and knowledge about agriculture, which greatly influenced agricultural production in the northeast. 1947 saw the separation of India and Pakistan, but at that time Bangladesh belonged to Pakistan as "East Pakistan. At this time, millions of immigrants from East Pakistan flowed into India, and in 1951 the first national register wasmakingThe first time the company was founded, it was a small company.
The situation became even more serious in 1971. In that year, East Pakistan gained independence from Pakistan and Bangladesh was born. This violent war of independence created a large number of refugees, many of whom fled to northeastern India. In Assam, the rapid increase in immigration led to anti-immigrant riots in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which deepened the gap between the original inhabitants of northeastern India and the immigrants. This struggle, known as the "Assam Movement," ended in 1985. The Indian government and the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) reached an agreement, which stipulated that those who immigrated to India after March 1971 would be considered "foreigners.decisionThe 2018 National Registry case is believed to be against the backdrop of these issues.
Citizenship Amendment Bill of 2016
There is another important policy regarding immigration issues in India. That is the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016. The amendment would grant citizenship to illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Zoroastrian, or Christian. After all, before this bill is voted on by Congress in 2019abolitionHowever, the amendment bill was controversial in India.
Why did the Indian government proceed with this amendment to the bill? The government has stated that the purpose of this bill is to rescue those who are being persecuted in their home countries due to religious reasonsclaimThe bill does not include Muslims in its scope. The reason Muslims are not included in the target of this bill is that Islam is the majority religion in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and Muslims are not subject to persecution in these states, andreasonIt is.
The government also believes that by passing this bill, Assam will become a "Second KashmirWhen India and Pakistan gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, they were divided into two separate states: India, with a Hindu majority, and Pakistan, with a Muslim majority. Kashmir, which at that time was an autonomous territory known as a fiefdom, belonged to India because the fiefdom's leader was a Hindu, despite the fact that the majority of the population was Muslim. Under these circumstances, war broke out between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, and in 1972 a "cease-fire line" was established between the two countries, dividing Kashmir into Indian-administered and Pakistan-administered territories. However, the conflict between India and Pakistan in the region continues to this day.It's going on.The region has been under attack by anti-Indian government groups since 1989. In addition, anti-Indian government forces are also present within Indian-controlled Kashmir, where attacks by anti-Indian government groups have been taking place since 1989,70,000 peoplehave lost their lives. Pakistan is believed to be providing support to the forces, and India and Pakistan aremilitary conflictIn some cases, this may develop into
Indian border guards guarding the border with Bangladesh (Photo: Patho72 / Wikimedia [CC BY-SA 4.0])
Similar problems could occur in northeastern India, government officials claim. That is, they fear that it could develop into a struggle with insurgents, as is happening within the Kashmir region. of Hindus in Assam in 1971.ratiowas 71%, but in 2011 it had declined to 61%. The Indian People's Party (BJP), the government's ruling party, is also concerned about the impact of the decline in the percentage of the Hindu population on the number of seats it can win in Assam.
Contradictions Lurking in the Amended Bill
While the government claims that the amendment bill is contradictory, it has been pointed out that the bill is contradictory. The government states that the purpose of the amendment bill is "to rescue people who are being persecuted in their home countries. However, the government may be arbitrarily restricting the scope of those to be rescued, according topointing outIt is being done. As mentioned earlier, the amended bill grants citizenship only to immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, where Islam is the majority religion. Despite the presence of many immigrants and refugees from Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, the government has excluded them from protection. In particular, Muslim minorities from Myanmar, known as Rohingya, are persecuted and become refugees, fleeing into Indian territory. They have been declared by the UN Human Rights Committee as "The world's most persecuted minorities" stated. Nevertheless, the Indian government has excluded them from protection under the amended bill. On the contrary, in January 2019, several Rohingya refugees were arrested and held for 14 days ininternThe first time I did this, I was in the middle of a project.
In light of this, doubts remain as to whether the Citizenship Amendment Bill was really designed to "protect immigrants and refugees. Such a move may stem from the ideology held by the BJP, which is currently the ruling party.Hindu supremacyThe BJP, it is alleged, is a party that is in effect promoting a "Hindu nation" by eliminating Muslims from the country and attempting to achieve a "Hindu nation" by promoting such policies.pointing outThere are also
Prime Minister Modi delivering his speech (Photo: Narendra Modi/Flickr [CC BY-SA 2.0])
It is also suspected that with this amendment bill, the government is attempting to prevent a Muslim majority in the northeastern region of India.pointing outhave also been done. As we confirmed at the beginning of this article, the National Registry case resulted in 4 million people being struck off the list. But in fact, of these 4 million people,2.2 million peoplewere Hindus. It is believed that the government is trying to grant citizenship to Hindus who were excluded from the national registry through the amendment bill. The Amendment Bill was a measure to give the Hindus an advantage.
Citizens' protest
Thus, the Citizenship Amendment Bill has many contradictions. Many residents of northeastern India voiced their opposition to the amendment bill, but the reason for their protest was not the "contradictions" of the bill. Let us review their arguments as to why many residents opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill. In contrast to the government's supposed emphasis on religious differences, local residents do not necessarily value religion. Several Assamese BJP party members also oppose the government's policy. They say that "foreigners should not be given citizenship irrespective of their religion."positionThe government is taking a "no" approach. Rather, they believe that accepting immigrants and refugees will increase competition for land rights and occupations.misgivingsThe government has been working on this project. In addition, the bill would also increase the number of people using BengaliconcernThere also seems to be a The increase in immigration is expected to make the local population a "minority" in the northeastern region of India.concernThe "I" is doing it.
Guwahati, Assam (Photo: Max Pixel [CC0 1.0])
Intersecting Citizens' Demands and Government Ideas
As we have seen above, the Indian government is ignoring the voices of the local population and trying to promote a policy that emphasizes "Hindu identity. At first glance, this policy seems to protect immigrants and refugees, but it should be clear that this policy is not truly for the protection of immigrants and refugees. With the Indian government and the local population at cross purposes, the anti-immigrant sentiment among the local population is only growing. Although the Citizenship Amendment Bill has now been repealed, this does not mean that concerns about the bill have completely disappeared. This is because general elections for the lower house will be held in April-May 2019. If the BJP wins a majority in these elections, the Citizenship Amendment Bill will beresurfacingWhat will happen to the citizenship of 4 million people? And will the conflict between immigrants/refugees and local residents in the region be resolved? We will keep an eye on the future developments.
1 East Bengal is now Bangladesh; prior to India's independence in 1947, both East Bengal and India were under British rule as British India.
Writer: Tomoko Kitamura
Graphics by Saki Takeuchi
You were among the 10 most important articles at the end of the year! I was curious and glad to read it!
I felt the fear that policies that seem on the surface to be pro-immigrant policies are being pursued without understanding the intentions behind them. I wonder if such legislation exists in Japan?
I feel that ideologies such as "Hindi Identity" and "America First" that link something to the identity of the "Fatty" as a national identity are increasing, but in a world where globalization is progressing and people of all backgrounds are coming and going with increasing fluidity, such an exclusionary spirit seems backward. I feel that such a spirit of exclusion is going against the times.
I thought that there is no right answer and it is very difficult to decide what to take into consideration when steering politics: the voice of the people, the national interest, or the current trends of the times.
I also thought that religious conflicts are not as big as the government and the higher-ups would like us to think, and that the citizens are living more peacefully than one might expect. But still, it is very difficult to control such a situation in a country with a large population.
Immigration issues, territorial wars, religious conflicts. I felt the fear of taking ostensible objectives and backgrounds for granted, since nations enact rules in consideration of a variety of background factors.
It also reminds us that the gap in perception between the people who run the country and the residents who actually face the problems is a really difficult issue. Each of us must have our own awareness of the issues and feelings, and although we may not be able to "empathize" with each other easily, I believe that we can "understand" the other's situation in our minds if we face the situation properly. Perhaps the most important attitude to resolve such conflicts is to be sincere toward others.