Think tank organisation, Rights and Risks Analysis Group’s director Suhas Chakma on Monday said the Centre must scrap the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as it is not even helpful for the beneficiaries.
Chakma stressed that instead of implementing CAA, the Centre should be open to dialogue to find a lasting solution for the issues related to the foreigners settled in the country.
“The government of Assam as well as the Union government must consider withdrawing CAA and start consultation process where we could find maximum acceptable solutions. The Centre must be open to discussion on the Act once again in the next session of Parliament,” Chakma said.
Chakma, who is also one of the petitioners challenging the constitutional validity of the Act before the Supreme Court, said, “The Centre should also start talks with the governments of neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.”
Asserting that CAA is enacted essentially to address the crisis arising out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, Chakma said, “CAA actually fails to address the issues of the problems arising out of the NRC. The government is trying to basically make a pool (segregated unit) of the excluded people.”
Chakma said all the 19 lakh people still shall have to go through the entire trial process before the foreigners’ tribunal (FT). If the applicants are not happy with the judgment of the FT, they have to move the high court and the Supreme Court, he added.
“So the sufferings of the 19 lakh people actually do not end irrespective of whether you are a Muslim, Christian or Buddhist,” Chakma said.
“It is very clear that many of the people from this 19 lakh people will not get citizenship in their lifetime. On an average, the ministry of home affairs processes about 100 applications a year; which means that only 100 people are given citizenships in a year,” he said.
Stressing that CAA is not the solution, Chakma said even the indigenous tribal and other communities like the Bodos, Misings, Bhojpuris and Nepalis will face trouble to get citizenship for neither have they documents to prove nor can they claim to fled persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan.
