NEW DELHI: In validating Part 6A of the Citizenship Act that conferred citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants getting into India earlier than March 25, 1971, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud in his opinion stated this deadline was affordable as on that day Pakistan military had launched ‘Operation Searchlight‘ to curb the Bengali nationalist motion in then East Pakistan.
Agreeing with the bulk opinion of Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh and Manoj Misra on the validity of Part 6A included within the Citizenship Act to honour the Centre’s dedication beneath the 1985 Assam Accord signed with college students’ unions, CJI Chandrachud stated utility of the availability solely to Assam had an inexpensive nexus with the magnitude of the issue confronted by the state on account of unabated inflow of unlawful migrants from Bangladesh.
Quoting M Rafiq Islam’s e-book ‘A Story of Hundreds of thousands: Bangladesh Liberation Battle, 1971’, the CJI stated, “On March 25, 1971, the Pakistan military launched Operation Searchlight to curb the Bengali nationalist motion in East Pakistan. The migrants earlier than the operation have been thought of to be migrants of partition in the direction of which India had a liberal coverage. Migrants from Bangladesh after the stated date have been thought of to be migrants of conflict and never partition. Thus, the deadline of March 25, 1971, is affordable.”
Referring to migrations from Bangladesh to India instantly after partition, the CJI stated, “Because the migration from East Pakistan to Assam was in nice numbers after the partition of undivided India and for the reason that migration from East Pakistan after Operation Searchlight would enhance, the yardstick has nexus with the objects of lowering migration and conferring citizenship to migrants of Indian origin (that’s particular person born in undivided India).”
Justice Chandrachud referred to the Sarbananda Sonowal judgment expressing concern over Assam dealing with “exterior aggression and inner disturbance” on account of largescale unlawful migration from Bangladesh and rejected the problem to Part 6A’s validity based mostly on the availability’s utility solely to Assam despite the fact that West Bengal, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram shared longer borders with Bangladesh and confronted unlawful migrant inflow.
“Although different states similar to West Bengal (2,216.7 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Tripura (856 km) and Mizoram (318 km) share a bigger border with Bangladesh as in comparison with Assam (263 km), the magnitude of inflow to Assam and its influence on the cultural and political rights of Assamese and tribal populations is greater,” he stated.
“The information submitted by the petitioners signifies that the full variety of immigrants in Assam is roughly 40 lakh, 57 lakh in West Bengal, 30,000 in Meghalaya and three,25,000 in Tripura. The influence of 40 lakh migrants in Assam might conceivably be better than the influence of 57 lakh migrants in West Bengal due to Assam’s lesser inhabitants and land space in comparison with West Bengal,” the CJI stated.
The petitioners, difficult the validity of Sec 6A, had argued that largescale entry of unlawful migrants from Bangladesh and conferring them citizenship had jeopardised Assamese individuals’s elementary proper to guard and preserve their tradition.
Rejecting this argument, the CJI stated, “First, as a matter of constitutional precept, the mere presence of various ethnic teams in a state shouldn’t be enough to infringe the precise assured by Article 29(1)… Second, numerous constitutional and legislative provisions defend Assamese cultural heritage.”
