Assam body may appeal SC's 6A ruling before 9-judge bench

GUWAHATI: Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha (ASM), among the petitioners that unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act in Supreme Court, said Friday that it was taking legal opinion to appeal the 4:1 verdict upholding the contentious clause before a nine-judge Constitution bench.

The organisation's working president Matiur Rahman said that contrary to Assam Accord signatory Aasu declaring Thursday's SC ruling "a historic second victory" in the fight to safeguard the state's demography, indigenous communities viewed it as "biased and unconstitutional".

"There was a movement demanding 1951 as the base year. Discussions will soon be held with the indigenous communities to decide on actions against this ruling," Rahman told TOI. "This ruling has led to Assam being considered a colony of India. How can the base year for identifying foreigners be 1971 in Assam when it is 1951 for other states of the country? Was Bangladesh ever a part of Assam, or did Assam get separated from Bangladesh for 1971 to be the base year?" he said.

Rahman alleged "political influence" in the order, saying the govt appeared to have sided with illegal immigrants instead of resolving the vexed issue. He said Aasu made "the first blunder" by not consulting stakeholders while agreeing to 1971 as the cut-off for detection and deportation of illegals.