Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha (Retd), former governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, recently held a meeting in New Delhi to discuss some important issues related to Assam, needing urgent attention with Mr M.P. Bezbaruah, former secretary, ministry of tourism, Mr B.C. Bora, former chairman and MD, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Mr Sanjay Hazarika, head of the Centre for Northeast Studies, Air Vice-Marshal Sanjib Bordoloi (Retd) — all hailing from Assam — and Mr E. Ramamohan, former D-G, Border Security Force, and this author, both of who served in and have written extensively on Assam and the Northeast.
Out of the subjects discussed — how to proceed with the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), guarding the interest of the Assamese people in view of the impending unique identification process and economic development — it was the second which everyone felt was most vital and required to be tackled with a lot of caution, backed by correct information and records. Identifying illegal migrants in the three and a half decades and preventing further influx into the state are crucial issues for the future of Assam.An excerpt of the letter written by Gen. Sinha to the President of India in November 1998 is relevant. “As governor of Assam, I feel it is my bounden duty, both to the nation and the state I have sworn to serve, to place before you this report on the dangers arising from the continuing silent demographic invasion. I have also formulated my recommendations for dealing with this issue of vital importance. I earnestly hope that this matter will receive due consideration and suitable action taken to avert the grave danger that has been building up for some time”.While Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI), based in Bangladesh, worked hard at stepping up entry of illegal migrants from there into Assam by making effective use of the Ulfa, the discriminatory and unconstitutional Illegal Migrant (Determination by Tribunal) (IMDT) Act greatly aided its efforts. Despite scrapping this after 25 years, during which the demography of eight districts of Assam changed drastically — as brought out by this author in his latest book, Assam Terrorism and the Demographic Challenge (CLAWS & Knowledge World) — the threat continues. A pragmatic approach to identification of the illegal migrants and widely raising consciousness about the possibility and pitfalls of their getting identified as Assamese is essential.One of the possible solutions discussed was to reactivate and update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951 and use it as a basis for identification and not just March 25, 1971, as mentioned in the Assam Accord, which followed the bloody agitation of the early 1980s. The major question which emerges then is, what to do after such identification? One major suggestion was that rather than deportation, migrants should be declared as “stateless” and be provided with specific work permits but strictly be debarred from any other rights. Various organisations need to be sounded on these serious issues. Some decisions are very crucial before the unique identification process starts in Assam, as this process may end up giving legitimacy to many illegal migrants unless handled very carefully.In fact, the problem of Bangladeshis crossing over to India and becoming Indian citizens, thanks to the votebank politics, is no longer confined to Assam alone but to many other parts. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement of setting up a National Immigration Authority to tackle the immigration problem of the country in a holistic manner.The mandate for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is to create a unique identity number for every resident in India. It will only provide identity and not citizenship. It will be the regulatory authority managing a Central ID Data Repository (CIDR) which will issue UID numbers, update resident information and authenticate the identity of residents as required. The authority will partner with agencies such as central and state departments and private sector agencies who will be its “registrars”, processing UID applications and connecting to the CIDR to “de-duplicate” resident information and receive UID numbers. These registrars can either be enrollers or will appoint agencies as enrollers, who will interface with people seeking UID numbers. The authority will also partner with service providers for authentication.The UIDAI will emphasise a flexible model for registrars, who will retain significant flexibility in their processes, including issuing cards, pricing, expanding Know Your Resident (KYR) verification, collecting demographic data on residents for their specific requirements and in authentication. The UIDAI will provide standards to enable registrars to maintain uniformity in collecting certain demographic and biometric information, and in basic KYR. These standards will be finalised by the KYR and biometric committees the authority constitutes.Demographic and biometric information for issuing a UID number will include name, date of birth, gender, father’s name, father’s UID number (optional for adult residents), mother’s name, mother’s UID number (optional for adult residents), address (permanent and present), expiry date, photograph and fingerprints.UIDAI is supposed to start issuing UIDs in 12 to 18 months and the plans to cover 600 million people within 4 years from the start of the project. This can be accelerated if more registrars partner with UADAI for both enrolment and authentication. The Government of India must take a strong and legally valid decision of fixing 1951 as the cut-off year for identification of foreigners in the Unique Identification exercise and set up the National Immigration Authority, giving it teeth to enable management of the influx from Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.In Bangladesh, following the Awami League’s electoral victory, Sheikh Hasina began her new term by taking some bold measures — despite great odds — against terrorists, including Ulfa’s top honchos enjoying great support of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, ISI etc. As Daily Star’s editor Mahfuz Anam stated recently in an Indian daily, New Delhi must guard against “getting trapped in a bureaucratic maze” and make the best of this opportunity to resolve all contentious issues, including illegal migration, with Bangladesh, backed by meaningful reciprocation, for its Look East policy to bear much fruit.Anil Bhat, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi
Anil Bhat