A total of 135 academics, lawyers, journalists and activists have written to President Ram Nath Kovind, urging his intervention to provide relief to the NRC-excluded people of Assam and to withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which was recently passed by Lok Sabha, saying that it “discriminates on the ground of religion and violates the constitutional principle of equality”.
Here is the full text of the letter:
Respected Rashtrapatiji,
We the undersigned citizens of India hereby seek your urgent intervention on two inter-related matters, which affect the lives of over one million people, perhaps more, in the state of Assam.
On the NRC
We express our deep anguish at the prospect of a very large number of people in Assam being deprived of citizenship and turned into an incarcerated population, as a result of the NRC process initiated at the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. It has been reported that out of the 40.07 lakh people excluded from the Final Draft of the NRC, only around 31 lakh people were able to file claims by the deadline of December 31, 2018. Thus, the fate of almost 9 lakh persons has practically been sealed as they are on the verge of losing their citizenship status. Many more may find themselves in a similar situation after the completion of the entire process.
In its judgment that initiated the NRC process, the Supreme Court had directed the central government to frame an adequate deportation mechanism in dialogue with the government of Bangladesh. The Indian government has not raised the deportation issue with its counterpart and has reportedly told the Bangladeshi officials that NRC is an internal Indian matter. In any case, deportation of one million people from Assam to Bangladesh does not appear to be within the bounds of possibility.
Rendering such a huge mass of people stateless would be an unprecedented catastrophe. The looming possibility of one million people – including children and women from poor refugee families – being held in detention centres would be no less inhuman and irrational. Even the possibility of this has pushed a significant number of people in Assam towards suicide. Apart from the human cost, the scale of these detention centres is bound to be an excruciating liability on the public exchequer. The option of turning the excluded persons into non-citizens in perpetuity without any right to participate in the democratic process, is equally inappropriate and counterproductive. This would create a separate category of second class citizenship, vulnerable to myriad kinds of harassment, victimisation and exploitation.
We earnestly urge upon you and the Hon’ble Supreme Court to reconsider the justification behind the NRC process in the light of the visibly calamitous outcomes, and ensure a humane and just result. We believe that granting citizenship to all the NRC excluded persons can provide such a solution.
On the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016
We also note with grave concern that the central government and the ruling party appear to be adamant on passing the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 in the Parliament. By making non-Muslim ‘illegal migrants’ from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh eligible for Indian citizenship, the amendment explicitly discriminates on the ground of religion and violates the constitutional principle of equality.
The government is disingenuous in justifying this amendment as a means of assisting persecuted minorities in India’s neighbourhood. Had it been sincere, it would have included all persecuted groups, based on any religious belief, race, language or ethnicity and extended its scope beyond only those neighbouring countries with a Muslim-majority population.
The only conceivable purpose that the passage of such a defective Citizenship Amendment Bill can serve at this stage is to enable the ruling party to play sectarian politics in Assam on the eve of the general elections and divide the NRC excluded people on religious lines. We urge upon you as the custodian of the Indian Constitution to advise the central government to withdraw the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 and abandon such divisive political strategies.
We are hopeful that you will intervene at this crucial juncture to uphold human rights and ensure justice for one million people.
Signatories
1
Abhijit Mukhopadhyay
Economist based in New Delhi
2
Abhik Mukherjee
Senior Lecturer, Computer Science & Technology, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur
3
Abusaleh Shariff
Economist, Chief Scholar at the US-India Policy Institute, Washington DC
4
Achin Chakraborty
Professor of Economics and Director, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
5
Aejaz Ahmad Rather
General Secretary, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union
6
Akhilesh Yadav
Vice President, Allahabad University Students’ Union
7
Albeena Shakil
Associate Professor, Jindal Global University, Sonipat
8
Amit Bhaduri
Emeritus Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
9
Amiya Kumar Bagchi
Emeritus Professor, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
10
Amlan Dasgupta
Assistant Professor, Jindal Global University, Sonipat
11
Amutha Jayadeep
Joint Secretary, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union
12
Anamitra Roychowdhury
Assistant Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
13
Anand Teltumbde
Senior Professor and Chair Big Data Analytics, Goa Institute of Management, Goa
14
Aniket Alam
Associate Professor of History, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad
15
Anirban Kar
Associate Professor, Delhi School of Economics
16
Anuradha Chenoy
Professor (Retd.) of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
17
Anwesha Sengupta
Assistant Professor, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
18
Arindam Banerjee
Assistant Professor of Economics, Ambedkar University Delhi
19
Arindam Jana
Advocate, Calcutta High Court
20
Arindam Roy
Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
21
Atulan Guha
Associate Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management, Kashipur
22
Avishek Konar
Assistant Professor, Jindal Global University, Sonipat
23
Ayesha Kidwai
Professor of Linguistics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
24
Bishnu Pada Mondal
General Secretary, Confederation of Central Government Gazetted Officers’ Organizations, West Bengal
25
Biswajit K.Bora
Academic and activist, University of Delhi
26
Byasdeb Dasgupta
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Kalyani
27
Debabrata Pal
Assistant Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
28
Debaprasad Maity
Assistant Professor, IIT Guwahati
29
Debarshi Das
Associate Professor, IIT Guwahati
30
Debjani Sengupta
Associate Professor of English, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi
31
Deborshi Chakraborty
Research Scholar of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
32
Devika Prasad
Human Rights Activist and Researcher
33
Dhananjay Tripathi
Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, South Asian University, New Delhi
34
Dipa Sinha
Assistant Professor of Economics, Ambedkar University Delhi
35
Dwaipayan Banerjee
Researcher and actvist, Kolkata
36
Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya
Professor of Political Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
37
Farah Naqvi
Author and activist
38
Farhat Salim
Research Scholar, JNU
39
Ghazala Jamil
Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU
40
Gitanjali Prasad
Program Manager, Hausla, Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi
41
Gogol Mitra Thakur
Junior Assistant Professor, Xavier University Bhubaneswar
42
Gorky Chakrabarty
Associate Professor, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
43
Harsh Mander
Director, Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi
44
Himanshu
Associate Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
45
Indranil Chowdhury
Assistant Professor of Economics, PGDAV College, University of Delhi
46
Ipsita Pal
Scientist
47
Jayati Ghosh
Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
48
Johanna Lokhande
Advocate, Delhi High Court
49
Kamal Mitra Chenoy
50
Kamal Nayan Kabra
Former Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
51
Karen Gabriel
Associate Professor of English, St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
52
Kasturi Basu
Researcher and actvist, Kolkata
53
Kingsuk Datta
General Secretary, Association of Chartered Accountants
54
Kunal Chattopadhyay
Professor, Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
55
Madhu Bhaduri
IFS (Retd.) and Former Ambassador
56
Maidul Islam
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
57
Manan Kumar Mandal
Professor in Bengali & Director School of Humanities, Netaji Subhas Open University, Kolkata
58
Manas Kumar Ghosh
Assistant Professor, Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
59
Manisha Sethi
Associate Professor, Centre for the Jawaharlal Nehru Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia
60
Manjari Katju
Professor of Political Science, University of Hyderabad
61
Manoranjan Mohanty
Professor of Social Development, Council for Social Development, New Delh
62
Mansi Sharma
Activist, New Delhi
63
Maroona Murmu
Associate Professor of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
64
Mihika Poddar
Graduate, National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) Kolkata
65
Mihir K. Chakraborty
Professor (Retd.), Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Calcutta
66
Mohinder Singh
Assistant Professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
67
Mohsin Alam Bhat
Assistant Professor, Jindal Global University, Sonipat
68
Mohsin Raza Khan
Assistant Professor, Jindal Global University, Sonipat
69
Murzban Jal
Professor, Centre for Educational Studies, Indian Institute of Education, Pune
70
Nabanipa Bhattacharjee
Assistant Professor of Sociology at Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi
71
Nalini Nayak
Associate Professor (Retd) of Economics, PGDAV College, University of Delhi
72
Nandan Nawn
Associate Professor, TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi
73
Nandini Dutta
Economics Department, Miranda House, University of Delhi
74
Nandini Ghosh
Assistant Professor, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata
75
Navsharan Singh
Senior Program Officer, Women’s Rights and Citizenship Program, IDRC, New Delhi
76
Nirmalangshu Mukherji
Former Professor of Philosophy, University of Delhi
77
Parimal Bhattacharya
Associate Professor, Maulana Azad College, University of Calcutta
78
Partha Chatterjee
Professor and Former Director, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
79
Parthapratim Pal
Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
80
Partho Sarothi Ray
Associate Professor, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata
81
Pijush Roy
Assistant Secretary General, Confederation of Central Government Employee and Workers
82
Pinaki Chaudhuri
Reader, Theoretical Physics
83
Prabhat Patnaik
Emeritus Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
84
Pranab Kumar Acharya
Secretary, All India Civil Accounts Employees Association
85
Prasenjit Bose
Economist and activist, Kolkata
86
Pratim Ghosal
Research Scholar of Political Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
87
Praveen Jha
Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
88
Prithviraj Guha
Assistant Professor, Presidency University, Kolkata
89
Pulin B Nayak
Professor (Retd.) of Economics, Delhi School of Economics
90
R.V. Ramana Murthy
Professor of Economics, University of Hyderabad
91
Rafikul Hossain
Associate Professor & Head, Department of Bengali Language & Literature, University of Calcutta
92
Rahul Varman
Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
93
Rajarshi Dasgupta
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
94
Ratan Khasnabis
Dean, School of Economics and Commerce, Adamas University West Bengal
95
Rita Sinha
Associate Professor (Retd.), Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi
96
Rohit Azad
Assistant Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
97
S.P. Shukla
IAS (Retd.), Former Union Finance Secretary & Ambassador to GATT
98
Sabyasachi Sen Gupta
Professor of Electrical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur
99
Sachin N
Assistant Professor of English, Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi
100
Sajjad Hassan
Director, Misaal & Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi
101
Salman Imtiaz
President, Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union
102
Santanu Basu
Associate Professor, Panjab University, Chandigarh
103
Sarika Chaudhary
Vice-President, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union
104
Saumyajit Bhattacharya
Associate Professor of Economics, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi
105
Seema Mustafa
Editor, The Citizen
106
Senthil Babu
Researcher, French Institute of Pondicherry
107
Shakuntala Mahanta
Associate Professor, IIT Guwahati
108
Shantanu De Roy
Assistant Professor, Department of Policy Studies, TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi
109
Sheetanshu Kumar
Assistant Professor of Hindi, Assam University, Silchar
110
Shiv Sethi
Sanhati-India
111
Sirisha Naidu
Associate Professor, Wright State University, USA
112
Sitala Prasad Roy
Addl. Secretary General, All India Association of Pay And Accounts Officers (Civil)
113
Smita Gupta
Independent Researcher, New Delhi
114
Somnath Roy
Assistant Professor, IIT Kharagpur
115
Souvik Roy
Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur
116
Subhanil Chowdhury
Assistant Professor, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
117
Subhasis Bandopadhyay
Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur
118
Subrata Mukherjee
Associate Professor, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
119
Sudipta Bandyopadhyay
Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Calcutta
120
Sudipta Bhattacharyya
Professor of Economics, Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan
121
Sukanta Das
Assistant Professor, Department of Information Technology, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur
122
Sumit Sarkar
Associate Professor of Economics, XLRI Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur
123
Sunanda Sen
Former Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
124
Supurna Banerjee
Assistant Professor, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
125
Talha Abdul Rahman
Advocate, Supreme Court of India
126
Tanweer Fazal
Associate Professor of Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
127
Taposik Banerjee
Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi
128
Utsa Patnaik
Emeritus Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
129
- Lenin Kumar
Assistant Professor, School of Government, Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Pune
130
Vamsi Vakulabharanam
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
131
Vebhuti Duggal
Assistant Professor of Film Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi
132
Vibha Iyer
Assistant Professor of Economics, Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi
133
Vijaya Venkataraman
Associate Professor, Germanic and Romance Studies, University of Delhi
134
Vikas Bajpai
Assistant Professor, Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
135
Xonzoi Borbora
Associate Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati