Worried about the electoral fallout
of the Supreme Court striking down the Illegal Migrants (Determination
by Tribunal) Act 1983, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said in Guwahati
that he would discuss with the Congress high command the possibility
of evolving an alternative law to protect the rights of genuine Indian
citizens.
But the feedback from the state
leadership gave clear indications that it wanted to bring back the
IMDT Act through the backdoor, albeit in a different form. "Yes,
we have to redraw our strategy," admitted Congress state president
Bhubaneshwar Kalita, but refrained from making any direct comment
on the judgment.
The Assam Congress seems deeply
concerned about the implications of the verdict on its stable minority
support base even as the Congress leadership maintained a stoic silence
on Tuesday's verdict. "We are waiting for the full report of the
judgement to react to it," Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan
said in New Delhi.
Mr Gogoi was at pains to allay
the fears of a section of the minority organisations fearing prosecution
under the Foreigner's Act. "We shall abide by the Supreme Court's
verdict but ensure that the genuine Indian citizens (are not harassed).
There is no need to panic with the scrapping of the IMDT Act," Mr
Gogoi said.
He said he had instructed all the
deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of the districts
to tighten security and remain on vigil, particularly in minority-dominated
areas. Mr Gogoi said his government would update the National Register
of Citizens, which would give the correct estimation of genuine citizens.
Mr Gogoi took the plea that the
Congress had never targetted the minority community as vote bank.
"The Congress has never regarded the minority community as a vote
bank. As proven in the last election the Opposition got equal share
of (minority) votes," he said. But he failed to explain the brewing
resentment among locals on illegal settlers usurping agricultural
land and acquiring political muscle.
The Gogoi Government had been accused
of playing politics under the guise of the IMDT Act, which came to
represent the state's tactic to delay deportation of Bangladeshis
residing illegally in the state. He overturned the plea by his predecessor
Prafulla Mohanta of the Asom Gana Parishad to repeal the controversial
IMDT Act. The Centre enforced the Act after it reached an agreement
with the All Assam Students Union (AASU), which led to a bloody movement
against infiltration from Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Assam State Jamiat Ulama,
another strong supporter of the IMDT Act, has called an emergency
meeting of the executive committee tomorrow in Guwahati to discuss
the fallout of the apex court's verdict. The All Assam Minority Students'
Union, which called for a bandh tomorrow said, "we will not sit idle
but continue our movement in favour of the Act. AAMSU will choose
whatever path of agitation it finds fit to protect the rights of
the minorities in their own country," it said. Another minority outfit,
the United Minority Front (UMF), said the repeal of the Act was a
"big loss" for the minorities. In another statement, the state committee
of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said the repeal of the
Act had created doubts and apprehension among the minorities. CPI
(M) state secretary Uddhab Barman in a reminded that the party had
been demanding deportation of illegal migrants, who had entered the
state after March 25, 1971.Supporters of the BJP and AGP, which had
championed repeal of the Act, celebrated at being vindicated.