Resolution: Adopted at the 20th Congress of the CPI(M), Kozhikode,
April 4-9, 2012
For Rights of Bengali Refugees
This Party Congress calls upon the Central Government to honour the assurance given by the Prime Minister to sympathetically consider the legitimate demand of the large numbers of Bengali refugees to recognize them as citizens of India. They had fled their country erstwhile East Pakistan and then Bangladesh. A large number of these refugees belong to the Scheduled Castes, mainly namashudra communities and are living in different parts of the country.
This Party Congress recognizes that the heightened insecurity of these communities is because of their exclusion in the current Aadhar drive of citizen identification which makes them even more vulnerable.
At the time of the Parliament discussion on the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2003, all political parties from across the spectrum had supported an amendment to protect these citizens who are victims of historical circumstances. Yet even after so many years the law considers them illegal migrants. There are cases where they have been treated like criminals.
This Party Congress demands a suitable amendment in Clause 2 (i) (b) of the said Citizenship Act in relation to the Bangladesh minority community refugees. This must be done while protecting the Assam accord which is relevant to the specific situation in Assam. It demands that the Central Government bring such an amendment in the forthcoming budget session of Parliament. It assures these communities the support of the CPI (M) in their struggle for their genuine demands.