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Chakma and Hajong communities in a spot
Why is it in news?
- Indigenous groups in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram feel that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will legitimise claims of refugee groups.
Who are Chakmas and Hojongs?
- Chakmas and Hajongs came to India from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), having lost their homes and land to the Kaptai dam project (Karnaphuli river) mid-1960s. They also faced religious persecution
- Chakmas are Buddhists, while Hajongs are Hindus
- Chakmas’ is close to Bengali-Assamese; Hajongs speak a Tibeto-Burman tongue written in Assamese
What is Issue?
- The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, changes the definition of illegal migrants. The Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide citizenship to illegal migrants, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian extraction. However, the Act doesn’t have a provision for Muslim sects like Shias and Ahmediyas who also face persecution in Pakistan.
- The petitioners have urged the court to declare the amendments made through the Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Rules, 2015; the Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015; and the order issued by the Home Ministry on December 26, 2016 under the Citizenship Act, allowing the naturalisation of illegal immigrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, as “illegal and invalid”.
- The petition branded the move to differentiate “illegal immigrants” on the basis of their religion and grant them naturalisation as “communally motivated humanitarianism”.
Source
The Hindu