Author: Amulya Kalita
Publisher: GRFDT
The present study falls on the conflict induced forced migration. In this situation people are forced to
leave their ancestral home for fear of life and property. Such people usually flee across the international
borders in search of refuge or seek asylum under international law.
Various reports mention that the minoritiesespecially the Hindus of Bangladesh are not safe in their
country and forced them to leave Bangladesh due to continuous persecution of different forms. They
generally entered into India and denied to go back again. To ameliorate the suffering of the minority
groups like the Hindus, the Buddhist, Sikhs, etc. residing in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the
National Democratic Alliance government of India introduce a bill in the Parliament in 2014 and again
in July 2016 to grant them Indian citizenship status by brining amendment into the Citizenship Act,
1955.
The proposed bill has been creating a great repercussion in the whole state of Assam. Because large
number of Bengali Hindu immigrants are residing in Assam in clandestine manner. If amendment of
Citizenship Act comes into force, it would enable over 1.5 lakhs undocumented Hindu illegal migrants
to get Indian citizenship status. Therefore as many as 26 ethnic organizations and students bodies
protested against it and claims that Assam wouldn’t take the responsibility of post 25th March 1971
foreigners and the Central Government should accommodate such people in another state.
So this paper is an attempt to highlight the problem of forced migration in India with primary focus on
how the Central Government’s decision creating a conflict like situation in Assam.