DH Interview | 'All post-1971 migrants must be deported': Utpal Sarma

"In the first draft of the NRC, over 40 lakh people were kept out, but in the final draft, it was about 19 lakh. Many indigenous people were left out while lakhs of Bangladeshis made it to the list," AASU president Utpal Sarma.

Since 1979, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has been campaigning against illegal migration from neighbouring Bangladesh to Assam. In conversation with DH’s Sumir Karmakar, AASU president Utpal Sarma speaks on NRC, CAA and the ongoing eviction drives in Assam. Excerpts: 

The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 after a six-year-long fight to end illegal immigration. Why does the issue persist even after 40 years? 

The Assam Accord, signed in 1985, promised that those who migrated till March 24, 1971, would get Indian citizenship and those who came later would be deported. This was a national commitment, yet successive governments in Delhi or Dispur failed to implement it. Instead, they have used the issue as a poll plank, only to push it aside after the elections. Today, the problem has become more complex. 

The NRC was updated as per the Assam Accord, and over 19 lakh people could not make it to the list. Why was it not accepted then?

The backdrop in the case of NRC in Assam was different from the rest of the country. The Assamese people are opposed to the CAA but want the NRC. 

In the first draft of the NRC, over 40 lakh people were kept out, but in the final draft, it was about 19 lakh. Many indigenous people were left out while lakhs of Bangladeshis made it to the list. 

AASU, along with Assam Public Works, an NGO, moved the Supreme Court seeking a complete re-verification of the NRC draft due to data discrepancies in the number of Bangladeshi immigrants reported by the government. 

The Supreme Court disposed of the petitions in November 2024, while upholding the cut-off date of March 24, 1971. The Assam government only voiced displeasure in the media but didn’t challenge the NRC legally. So, we decided to move the Supreme Court again, seeking verification of the NRC. If the NRC is not error-free, the indigenous people are bound to become minorities in their own land in the coming decade. 

Did the CAA and the recent notification for the protection of non-Muslim migrants till 2024 complicate the foreigners issue in Assam further?

Definitely, the CAA and the new order are both detrimental to the indigenous people of Assam and violate the Assam Accord. Unlike the rest of India, where CAA protests were about secularism and communal bias, Assam’s case is about the violation of the Assam Accord and the cut-off date for detection of foreigners (March 24, 1971). All post-1971 immigrants must be detected and deported, irrespective of religion, as per the Assam Accord.

BJP says Assam has accepted CAA by voting them to power in 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly elections. How do you respond?

Assembly elections are fought on many local issues. A win in the Assembly elections is not a referendum on the CAA. After the massive anti-CAA protests in the Northeast, including by the CMs, the Centre exempted Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, where the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system was already in place. It even introduced ILP in Manipur in 2020. It even introduced ILP in Manipur in 2020. If the CAA is bad for other states, how can it be good for Assam?

Do you believe everyone being evicted is an illegal migrant?

No, and that is where the government must be careful. They cannot make blanket statements that all those being evicted are illegal migrants. Who will decide who is an illegal migrant and who is not? So detection must start immediately. Those found to be illegal migrants must be detained and deported. But if they are legitimate citizens, the government must assess whether they are landless or have land in other areas and are occupying the government land unlawfully.