Dear Sir/Madam,Namaskar. Here is a memorandum, to be submitted to Assam
Governor, foryour kind information. Please find time to go through it and if
possibleendorse it. With your consent, your name will be included as a
signatory.Otherwise, you may simply ignore it.Regards,Rupam Barua, Nava
Thakuria, Pramod Kalita with others forPPFA { Patriotic People’s Front
Assam}Guwahati, Assam
To,Shri Banwarilal Purohit,Hon’ble Governor of Assam,Raj Bhawan,Kharguli,
Guwahati-781004Dated: Guwahati, 27 October 2016Your Excellency,Warm greetings
from Patriotic People’s Front Assam.We would like to bring to your kind
attention some of therecent misleading and manipulative statements by some
individuals and organizationson the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 issue. We
are shocked that thesegroups of vested interests are trying to communalise the
issue instead ofhelping to find an amicable solution.The extremely volatile
utterances targeting the Hindu minority community of Assam is deplorable
andcondemnable at the least. We are from this land of glorious civilization
&culture and we feel that our spirit should be that of accommodation
especiallyof the Hindu minorities who have had to face extreme suppression in
erstwhile EastPakistan (now Bangladesh) and also West Pakistan and have been
the true victimsof partition of India.We would like to take this opportunity to
highlight thehistorical truth that cannot and should not be forgotten and which
will attemptto build an honest perspective who is a foreigner in Assam which
has been atouchy and thorny issue since long.Hence, we must all look back and
see what transpired in 1942when Mahatma Gandhi called for the 'QuitIndia'
movement. The Muslim League raised another slogan 'Divide India AndQuit'. In
1946, the 'Pakistan' demand of Muslim league was accompanied by'Direct Action'
or the violent communal riots like the 'Great Calcutta killing'where nearly
5000 people were killed or massacred in only 4 days. Assam's eminentpoet Amulya
Barua was one of the victims in that killing field.History bears witness to the
fact that Muslims of undividedIndia who wanted a separate homeland for the
Muslims were granted Pakistan and thusthey became ‘foreigners’ to Indians. In
fact the moment they created a foreignland for themselves they lost their
rights to get into India again withoutpassports or related legal documents.So,
post 15 August 1947 India, all those that that chose tolive in Pakistan
(including East Pakistan) were legally foreigners. However, history is also
witness to the factthat the minority Hindus, Shikhs, Christians, Buddhists who
were left behind inPakistan were continuing to face brutal suppression at the
hands of the newnon-secular government, which prompted the Prime Minister of
Independent India JawaharlalNehru to issue a historic statement in Parliament
…… that non-Muslims would besafe and secure in Pakistan as both the new nations
pledged to be good andfriendly neighbours. However, Nehru also declared in the
Parliament that if, infuture, non-Muslims felt unsafe and insecure in Pakistan
due to religious orcommunal persecutions, they would be always welcome in India
and they would notbe treated as 'foreigners' in India.It is indeed a matter of
satisfaction that the Uniongovernment in New Delhi has taken steps lately to
provide shelter to these'Victims of Partition' all over the country following a
process of equal distribution.In fact, it is a long pending moral
responsibility which India should haveshouldered much earlier (soon after Nehru
made the promise in the Parliament).But better late than never and we must all
support thegovernment’s action to give citizenship rights to the victims of
Partition who havetaken shelter in India from Pakistan and Bangladesh till
2014. We must not forgetthat among these people are many whose ancestors fought
and sacrificed theirlives for an independent India, and for their contributions
we are free citizensof an independent nation today. Let all of us be grateful
to them.We are also fully aware that since the formation ofBangladesh and the
assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 1975, Bangladesh madeIslam the State
religion setting into motion the persecution of minority non-Muslims.In
Bangladesh, the Hindus include Bengali, Rajbongshi, Hajong, Adivasi,Jayantiya
and Bishnupriya communities, Buddhists (represented by Chakmas) andsome
Assamese people also, who fled to the Chittagong hill areas during theBurmese
invasion. The Christians include Bengali, Garo, Khasi and Adivasi people.All
these people became the victims of 'Pakistan Plan' and the 'Partition and hadto
live in a 'foreign', for the creation, of which they were not at
allresponsible.So, under no circumstances these people can be termed
as'foreigners'. The foreigners are those who created 'foreign' in the name of
religion,but again are infiltrating into India, the country they hated to live
in before1947, for the reasons best known to them. If the history of Partition
is properlystudied, we can clearly understand who the ‘Foreigners’ are and who
are actual'Victims of Partition' and who came to India to protect their
religions,cultures and their lives.However, we have no intentions of
communalizing the issuebut we want to provide a clear understanding of how
history unfolded lest some vestedinterests and parochial mindsets for their own
narrow political gains and cheapmileage would continue to resort to disturb the
peace and tranquil atmosphereof Assam. There is a need for a solution to this
vexed issues and we are wouldfully agree if those that have been truly
victimized owing to partitions andreligious persecution are given a place not
just in Assam but in differentparts of India, a country where the underlying
tenets of democracy aretolerance, secularism and freedom of religion, faith,
practice and expression.Finally, we also raise our voices for a concrete
refugeepolicy for India so that we can deal with the immigrants logically and
legally.We believe India should sign the 1951 United Nations RefugeeConvention.
Moreover our government has to ratify the 1967 Protocol relating tothe status
of refugees.With Regards,#yiv2522851110 #yiv2522851110 --
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