A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
It permits immigrants from Bangladesh residing in Assam to secure the Indian citizenship.
The principle of fraternity cannot be selectively applied to one section living in Assam while another lot are labelled “illegal immigrants”.
The immigrants who entered Assam on or after March 25 of 1971 were liable to be detected, detained and deported.
Section 6A traces its roots to the political solution of Assam Accord of 1985.
It mandates that immigrants who entered Assam from Bangladesh prior to January 1, 1966 would be deemed to be Indian citizens.
Those who entered into the State between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971 would be conferred citizenship based on the fulfilment of specific procedures and conditions.
The Section however barred citizenship to those who entered Assam after March 25, 1971.
The Pakistani Army had launched Operation Searchlight to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in East Pakistan on March 26, 1971.