Baba, what is JPC? Why are people talking about it so much?

In Barak Valley, every mouth that has a tongue is talking about JPC. The acronym stands for Joint Parliamentary Committee, and the reason why it has emerged as a topic of debate/discussing in the valley is the visit of its members. Assam, especially since the last couple of years, has only spoken about NRC (National Register of Citizens) in such detail. The JPC is visiting to hear various organisation/intellects and independent associations; this is the committee on which depends the future of 2016 amendment of Citizenship Bill. The committee will hear suggestions today and tomorrow in an auditorium at National Institute of Technology.

A 13-year-old school goer, while returning back home heard the term JPC. In the evening, while having dinner on the dinning table asked his father, “What is this JPC that every body is talking about, few are abusing it while few are excited about it…” The father while removing thin bones out of Hilsa replied, “This is a committee coming to examine the local reactions on the proposed amendment of citizenship bill, which will add new clauses to the citizenship act…” Kids today are smart and the curious ones, and can get on the nerves. The boy threw another question towards his father, “What is Citizenship Act,” Hilsa is very tasty but removing the bones, at times can be very exhaustive, the father engrossed in the Hilsa mentioned “it’s a bill that allows one to apply for Indian citizenship.”

Though the father was not incorrect, he was certainly incomplete. BR Ambedkar in Article 11 of India’s Constitution designated the Parliament to constitute a permanent citizenship law. The Parliament in 1955 passed the Citizenship Act, which regulates the acquisition and determination of citizenship. The act had criterions mentioned under which one is determined as an Indian citizen or illegal immigrant. The Act so far, has been amended five times for the record, and the sixth amendment is proposed in 2016.

Meanwhile, the kid is now at his main course, and with a piece of paneer in his mouth he asks, “What are the new clauses that they want to amend?” he almost chokes, the father pours him a glass of water and while doing so replies, “The bill if passed will make Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh eligible to apply for citizenship.”

Well, the father this time did go in some details, but again left a few loose ends… The new bill opens up an avenue for persecuted non-Muslim communities living in Islamic states to seek asylum and eventually apply for citizenship. The bill also reduces the naturalisation period, as it considers that the above-mentioned communities had deep rooted connect with Indian culture, and therefore it won’t take much time for them to naturalise.

The kid stops eating, and questions his father worriedly, “If all of a sudden a huge population comes from outside, where will we go?” that’s a fair point; like the kid many other have criticised the development on similar lines. In the bill, the central government did not outline how it shall provide opportunities for employment, education, and a better life that these people have been bereft of. Clueless father opines to dodge the kid with some moral science, “Sharing is caring. You did study it in class, we shall all live together helping each other.” Well, the kid is too small to understand religious biases, but the wise men do. The bill does not accommodate communities like the Ahmadiyyas, Uyghurs and Rohingyas, who are persecuted minorities, and have knocked at India’s door in times of need.

The father is done struggling with Hilsa and seems to have found some energy, he asks a question, “Why are you asking me all this. Did you again watch Arnab’s debate?” Before the kid could reply, his grandfather doing Bajrashana after meal taunts, “Arnab does not have so much time to shout for an issue related to Assam…” Humourous dadubhai subtly gives a dose of reality check. The kid said, “The teachers, the senior dadas and even the auto-uncle was talking about JPC, that’s why I asked you, why is everybody talking about it so much in Assam?” The father now knows his father is listening too and taking a deep breath shares, “In Assam, it contradicts the Assam Accord, which was passed in 1985 after six years of Assam agitation.” Dadubhai didn’t look very happy with the answer and gives a stern look. The Assam Accord that the father mentioned is a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of Government of India and leaders of Assam Movement. “It was Prafulla Kumar Mahanta’s trick to deport Bengalis from Assam,” Dadubhai could not resist and the words came out in that baritone.

The kid is already confused, and this is where the conflict is, dadubhai’s angst against Mahanta goes back to 1979, Mahanta’s All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) and All Assam Student’s Association, (AASU) launched a state-wide agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants (mostly Bangladeshi) irrespective of their religious identity. Their argument was the influx of Bangladeshis in Assam would threat the culture, way of living and opportunities for Indigenous Assamese people. After the agitation, a political party Assam Gana Parishad was formed, and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta became the Chief Minister. In the accord, the eligibility cutoff to apply for a citizenship is March 25, 1971, which means the immigrant needs to have completed his/her migration on or before the mentioned date. The new bill extends the deadline to 2014, and that is the source of fire.

Dadubhai lost his cool, he is not done with a jibe at Mahanta, and he goes on, “Where should the Hindus go, is there a place for Hindu anywhere in the world, should we die in a detention camp?” The moment one crosses 60; death becomes the emotional weapon at every fight. The father now is in deep trouble as his son stares at him with hope that his father will respond to grandfather. He chooses the words of wisdom and says, “Let it be…” and walks off the table… Well the three generations settled it within themselves but for the people of Barak Valley starting today and tomorrow can mark the beginning of a new era…

India was partitioned on religious line and there is no debating this, today only 1.6% of Hindus are there in Pakistan while in 1951 it was 12.9% (including east and west), in Bangladesh the percentage of Hindus has declined to 6.7% from 10% in 1971. This censuses clearly depict that a huge number of Hindus have either converted or fled the country due to intolerance. This bill can become a respite for Hindus and it was a big part in Narendra Modi’s 2014 manifesto. Also, the argument that the bill contradicts ‘Assam Accord’ falls flat, because Assam Accord itself contradicts the Nehru-Liaquat pact signed in Delhi on April 8, 1950. While the pact primarily focuses on giving minority a respectable position in the country and all the rights that any other citizen gets, it also mentions that both the countries will give space to persecuted minority immigrants. Congress today is debating the bill and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was quoted by Firstpost saying, “The present Bill is a gross transgression of the idea of India as envisaged by our founding fathers.” The Indian idea, he said, is “people that are different in all respects come together and rally around the Indian democracy. A democracy, which has endured differences of caste, creed, conviction and culture, and agreed on the ground rules of how everyone will disagree. Therefore, we must pause and ask important questions, not just to our government, but to ourselves as well. What is the India that we call home? Who can call themselves an Indian and why?”

Tharoor is an outstanding orator with a very large and elite vocabulary. What he said to Firstpost reads very nice but where were those words when the Assam Accord was signed? It was the Congress at the center who signed the MoS. AGP is an ally in BJP’s coalition government in Assam and they are vocally opposing the bill. The Central leadership of Congress too is opposing the bill, but local leaders like Sushmita Dev , Kamalakya Dev welcomed the bill. It has fetched divided opinions from all sectors; AASU too is a firm opponent of the proposal.

A lot will depend on what happens in next two days, this is the 10th such occasion when a JPC is formed. The committee is chaired by Rajendra Agarwal and has 20 members from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha.

By the way, the kid is rushing to bed, “Didi Shona has holiday in Kolkata tomorrow but I have my exams here in Silchar. Will recite a poem in the evening on the occasion of Rabindra Jayanti…”