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Foreigners issue to the fore in Assam

Sushanta Talukdar

State poised to witness flurry of political activity centring on apex court verdict.

THE RULING Congress in Assam finds itself on a sticky wicket after the Supreme Court quashed the Central government notifications on amendments to the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order 1964. The ruling party is likely to feel the impact in the ensuing Panchayat polls in the State. The two notifications were issued by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government on February 10, 2006, ahead of the Assembly poll after the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act 1983 was struck down by the apex court on July 12, 2005.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has rushed to allay the fears of the minorities, saying no genuine Indian citizens would be harassed in the name of detection and deportation of foreigners. He said the State Government was bound to honour the Supreme Court verdict and, at the same time, it was duty bound to protect all genuine Indian citizens. Mr. Gogoi gave a similar assurance in his previous tenure when the IMDT Act was struck down.

The influential All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and two major Opposition parties, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had opposed the notifications. They had accused the Congress of issuing them to incorporate the provisions of the IMDT Act in the Foreigners Act through the backdoor. They had charged the Congress with playing to its vote bank among the minorities.

The Opposition took the battle to the Supreme Court, with the AGP MP and former AASU president Sarbananda Sonowal and BJP leaders Dhruba Prasad Baishya, Charan Deka, Bimalanghsu Roy, and Mukunda Rajbongshi filing two separate petitions seeking the quashing of the notifications.

The Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), set up to replace the Congress as the saviour of minorities after the IMDT Act was struck down, sees the apex court verdict on the notifications as another opportunity to take on the Congress.

It accuses the ruling party of deceiving the minorities in the name of protecting them. The AUDF has announced its decision to contest the panchayat polls on its own symbol. The AUDF wrested ten seats from Congress in the last Assembly elections.

The AUDF said it had pointed out the legal loopholes in the notifications by which the amended Foreigners (Tribunal) Order 2006 was made applicable only in Assam.

"The Supreme Court verdict has exposed the Congress game plan ... the notifications were issued only with the political motive of winning the support of the minorities ahead of the Assembly polls," the AUDF said in statement.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had issued two notifications on February 10, 2006. One of them called the Foreigners (Tribunal) Amendment Order 2006 was to "apply to the whole of India except the State of Assam." The other called the Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order 2006 was "to apply to the State of Assam."

The AUDF, however, reiterated its demand that the Foreigners Act 1946 should be amended and made applicable to the entire country to ensure protection of all genuine Indian citizens.

While the AUDF has blamed the Congress over the apex court verdict, the All Assam Minorities Students' Union (AAMSU) has turned on the AGP. The ruling Congress is likely to throw its weight behind the student body in a bid to neutralise the AUDF.

The BJP, on the other hand, has expressed its keenness to enter into a tie-up with the AGP for the panchayat poll and has issued a call for unity of non-Congress, non-Communist, and non-communal forces.

The Congress is likely to make every attempt to manoeuvre the intensified campaign by the AAMSU against the AGP over the Supreme Court verdict to push the regional party closer to the BJP. For if the AGP and the BJP come together, the Congress might find it easier to regain support among the minorities.

Mr. Gogoi's worry is that his detractors in the party might mount the pressure on the high command to give a share in power to the AUDF to prevent erosion in the minority vote bank. Unlike the previous Congress government, the present Congress-led coalition has so far kept the AUDF out of the power structure in the State.

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