GUWAHATI: An Assam organisation has filed an “intervention application” in the Supreme Court seeking action against BJP president Amit Shah for his purported comment that the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 would be passed in Parliament before the publication of the final draft National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The Assam Andolan Sangrami Mancha, which was formed by the leaders of anti-immigrants’ Assam Agitation of early 1980s, filed the application in the apex court on Friday. The organisation described Shah’s comment as an “onslaught on the judicial process” and accused him of giving the issue a “religious colour”.
Advisor to the organisation and two-time former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said, “The application was filed on Friday”. Mahanta, who is a leader of Asom Gana Parishad, had last month threatened legal action against Shah for the comment.
The NRC is being updated in Assam under the direct monitoring of the SC and based on the March 24, 1971 cut-off date. This means people, who will fail to submit any pre-March 24, 1971, documents of residency in the country during the process of NRC updation, will be viewed as illegal immigrants.
The BJP seeks to grant Indian citizenship to immigrants, belonging to six “persecuted” non-Muslim communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who migrated before December 31, 2014, through the passage of Citizenship Bill.
Various organisations, besides opposition parties, in Northeast have opposed BJP’s move. They have insisted on the detection and deportation of the immigrants irrespective of communities.