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The All India Chakma Social Forum (AICSF), issuing a statement to media on Thursday said they vehemently opposed the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

โ€œThe bill has become an instrument to vilify the Chakma community as foreigners and beneficiaries of the CAB,โ€ the statement said.

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โ€œThe Chakmas are the citizens of India and was notified as Scheduled Tribes by the President of India in 1950 in Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and West Bengal,โ€ the statement added.

AICSF secretary-general Paritosh Chakma said, โ€œThere were 2.2 lakh Chakmas in India as per 2011 census, of which 96,972 Chakmas are in Mizoram, 79,813 in Tripura and 2,032 are in Assam.โ€

He further informed that Chakmas have been living in the Western Belt of Mizoram since time immemorial.

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โ€œIn 1898, a portion of then Chittagong Hill Tracts covering the current Western belt of Mizoram inhabited by the Chakmas was included into the Lushai Hills for administrative purposes,โ€ he said.

โ€œThe Chakmas were accorded the Chakma Autonomous District Council under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India in 1972,โ€ he added.

โ€œThere is not a single Chakma foreigner residing in Mizoram as per the statement of R Lalzirliana, the then home minister, at the Assembly on November 15, 2017,โ€ the AICSF secretary reiterated.

Adding further he said, โ€œThere are over 100,000 Myanmarese Chin refugees in Mizoram, of which 4,000 have been granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in New Delhi.โ€

Santosh Chakma, General Secretary of the Committee for Citizenship Rights of the Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh said, โ€œThere is a vested interest to vilify the Chakmas in the Northeast.โ€

โ€œSince the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 whenever Chakmas sought refuge in India, they were always housed in camps in Tripura,โ€ he added.

He further added that Chakmas were also repatriated to Bangladesh with the last repatriation taking place in 1998 following the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord of 1997.

โ€œThe Chakmas are the only group of refugees in India who have always been kept in camps and repatriated to Bangladesh,โ€ he said.

โ€œMeanwhile, all other refugees- Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils, Myanmarese Chins and Myanmarese Rohingyas- have never been repatriated to their country of origin,โ€ he added.

โ€œThe time has come for many community organizations in the Northeast to stop xenophobia against the Chakmas as foreigners in the Northeast,โ€ said Paritosh Chakma.

โ€œThe entire Chakma population in the world is about 5.5 lakhs including 3 lakhs in Bangladesh, 2.2 lakhs in India and 30,000 in Myanmar,โ€ he said.

โ€œThe Chakmas do not pose any threat to any community and the Chakmas are fighting for their rights wherever they are residing,โ€ he added.

โ€œHowever, xenophobia against the Chakmas has reached such an insane level that Chakmas whose population in Assam was 2,032 as per 2011 census are targeted by a few local NGOs as a threat to over 3 crore population of Assam,โ€ he reiterated.