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Call to detect migrants with �51 as cut-off year

By The Assam Tribune

GUWAHATI, July 30 - The Patriotic People�s Front Assam (PPFA) has reiterated its call to detect all immigrants from the then East Pakistan and later Bangladesh with the cut-off year 1951 and urged the government in New Delhi to think about offering work permits (without voting rights) to them in case their deportation becomes impossible because of serious humanitarian and international crisis.

In a statement, the PPFA also appealed to the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government at Dispur to support 1951 as the cut-off year for detection of foreigners in the Supreme Court of India, as the case is presently in its jurisdiction.

Considering the spirit of the Assam Movement (1979 to 1985) to deport all foreigners with 1951 as the base year, for which over 850 martyrs � Khargeswar Talukdar being the first � sacrificed their lives, the PPFA found reasons to support the same.

The forum pointed out that the immigrants who entered India after 1951 till December 16, 1971, should be treated as East Pakistani nationals, as Bangladesh emerged as a sovereign nation only after December 16 (not March 25, 1971 as often reported in the media) following the surrender of Pakistani forces under the leadership of AAK Niazi to the Muktijoddhas (forces of Bangladesh freedom struggle).

Arguing strongly to deport the immigrants from Bangladesh who came after December 16, 1971, the forum urged the Union government to start diplomatic exercises with the Bangladesh government. It also expressed the hope that a friendly regime in Dhaka would respond to New Delhi�s worries positively and in time.

On another aspect, the forum commented that once the citizenship amendment Bills are duly passed in the Parliament, all the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Christian refugees should be rehabilitated with equal distribution across the country. Among them, those who prefer to stay legally in Assam should adopt the Assamese language as their medium of instructions, asserted the statement.

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