Amid simmering protest over the NDA government’s move for Indian citizenship to the non-Muslim intruders from Bangladesh and Pakistan, veteran journalist and north east expert Sanjay Hazarika said that it cannot be objected if there has been due process of law and adequate checking of individual cases before citizenship is granted.
Talking to Assam Times on Wednesday, Prof. Hazarika, the director of the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research with the Jamia Milia Islamia said, “On the issue of religious minorities (Hindus etc) being given refuge in this country, one is not surprised at all by the decision by this Government, given its propensities in such matters.”
According to the award winning author of The Strangers of the Mist, “it should be underscored that these are persons specifically fleeing religious persecution. What about those facing political persecution? Will the Government also not consider their cases.”
“The classic definition of a refugee is a person who is forced to flee his or her country and is unable to return because of her political or religious beliefs. Today our understanding of refugees has been expanded to include environmental refugees as well, those fleeing their lands because of a natural or human-induced catastrophe such as a famine, drought, flood or earthquake,” said the north east analyst.
He finds it an interesting issue as neither India or any other nation of South Asia is a signatory to the UN Covenant on Refugees. He observed, “although we host lakhs of them from Tibet, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and even Afghanistan. Pakistan and other parts of the world including Africa.”
7 Apr 2017 - 5:34pm | AT Kokrajhar Bureau
Road communication was disrupted for nearly five hours due to National Highway blockade by Adivashi National Convention (ANC), an united organisation of Adivashi community, demanded early solution of...
18 Mar 2012 - 4:36am | editor
The much-hyped NRC update process is expected to begin from July. The exercise is set to take place in two in three phase from Sadiya.
This was disclosed during a meeting of the ministerial...
29 Jan 2017 - 4:47pm | AT News
Ratan Lahkar is mo more. The harbinger of Assamese mobile theatre is dead. The famed theatre maker who heralded a new era in theatre passed away on Sunday noon after prolonged illness leaving the...
12 Apr 2014 - 5:59pm | AT News
EVM malfunctioning disrupted polling in some booths in the second phase of polling in the Lok Sabha elections in Assam on Saturday.But according to sources, the disruption was temporary. The...
Anjali is my friend. She lived in Guwahati for nearly three years. I didn't know she was researching this book!
I love to read books. Recently, I read her book, "Keeping in Touch." It's a love story set in today's world. The story is about Keteki, a designer, and Ved, a businessperson. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.
The story begins with Keteki and Ved meeting at an airport. Ved is going to Assam to see a special lightbulb factory. Keteki is coming back home to Guwahati after an art show in London. Their chance meeting leads to a love story that goes beyond borders and takes them on adventures in Assam and other places.
What I liked about "Keeping in Touch" is how Anjali...
During the Covid-19, a few brave Assamese boys and girls sailed offshore in search of their destiny, braving heavy odds like the lack of flights, lack of appointments for visas and uncertainty in foreign land. In the most unprecedented times in the history of mankind, now when the world goes through spells of complete lockdown, the youth were clueless about how to deal with this situation. Nevertheless, some brave-hearts embraced challenges with the right spirit and converted them to opportunities.
Dewang Rajkakati is one of them. He left India during the height of the Corona Pandemic in December 2020 after completing B Tech from SRM University. He studied MS from the State...
KOKRAJHAR: An encounter incident took place in the Ultapani forest area along the Indo-Bhutan border area of Kokrajhar district on Thursday night that reportedly killed a person who was allegedly involved with extremist activities recently in Chirang district.
The deceased was identified as Sanjula Wary, 26, of the Sapkata area of the Gossaigaon subdivision.
Police arrested Sanjula Wary(26) of Kashiabari Dulagaon under Gossaigaon police station on Thursday. as per police, he was earlier a member of the NLFB Udalguri camp and had formed an extremist gang of about 10-15 members who were personally involved in the recent dacoity and firing incident at Bithani village under Amteka in...
Guwahati: An orgy of "encounters" triggered no less uproar in the state assembly on Monday, where the government denied any such case of an encounter by police. According to the government, there is nothing new in a few incidents of deaths of criminals in police firing in the state.
Opposition legislators alleged a mysterious rise in the number of deaths in police firings since the new government was installed in Dispur.
Senior minister Piyush Hazarika tried to pacify the legislators by saying that there is no such word as "encounter" in the Assam police manual. He said that police can’t remain idle if a criminal tries to flee from custody.
“It was during the erstwhile...
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has demands CBI to investigate the recent encounter where two Bodo youths lost their lives in Kokrajhar district at the Lungsung area.
Speaking to the media at Kokrajhar, APCC senior spokesperson Gorjon Mushahary charged the state government with creating a chaotic environment in Bodoland Territorial Region districts by misguiding the administration.
The congress party demands CBI investigation into the encounter in Ultapani forest area and punishment of the responsible parties, as...
Lovlina Borgohain, the Women's boxer from Assam, defeated Chen of Chinese Taipei 4-1 to assure a second Tokyo Olympic medal for India on Friday.
She will play against Turkish boxer Busenaz SURMENELI in the Semifinals August 4.
Watch video of winning moments: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=813783922615822
Lovlina BORGOHAIN advances to quarters in the Women's Welter (64-69kg) beating Germany's Nadine APETZ in the Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday.
She will play Nien-Chin CHEN of Taipei on July 30.
The increase in tiger population in the Manas National Park is a milestone in country-wide tiger conservation efforts. Since peace returned to Manas after a prolonged insurgency, dedicated conservation intervention to secure the population of tigers was in place. The annual monitoring of tigers, co-predators, and prey animals is a prime mandate set by the Government of India to all tiger reserves designated as tigers‟ source population sites. With each passing year, Manas is adorning new feathers to its cap. This time „Manas Tiger Reserve‟ has been successful in a three-fold increase in tiger number in the last ten years (2011-2021). It is worth mentioning that this is an outcome of the...
Guwahati: Violation is human rights has become the order of the day in Assam if the statistics available with the state human rights commission is any indication. During the last one year alone, the commission has registered 81 cases in the state.
Till December 1,2020 the number of cases has gone up to 273 in addition to the pending 108 cases. The commission, however, claimed to have settled 178 cases till October 31, 2020.
In 2019, 317 cases were registered and the total cases with the Commission stand at 491. These include 174 pending cases. According to the commission, they have registered highest 69 cases in Kamrup Metro during this period. Kamrup metro is...
Guwahati: The light has gone off from the life of a political era in Assam. Congress veteran and former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is dead. The end came at 3.34 in the evening at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital where he was undergoing treatment of post COVID19 complications. He was 86 and is survived with his wife Dolley Gogoi, son Gaurav Gogoi and daughter Chandrima Gogoi who were around him as he passed away.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was the first to have paid the last respect for Gogoi. A speechless Sonowal said, “I have lost my father.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues and Chief Ministers from other states have called up Gaurav Gogoi, MP from...
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