Assam Movement

The Assam Movement was a popular movement in the state of Assam, which started because of the demand of the Assamese people from the Government of India to identify illegal immigrants, remove their names from electoral rolls and deport them.

Key Points

• The Assam Movement was started in the year 1979 and was predominantly led by the All-Assam Students Union (AASU).
• Around 855 people of Assam were martyred in the movement.
• The movement ended in the year 1985 with the Assam Accord, a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement.
• In response to the movement, the Citizenship Act was amended for the first time in the year 1986.

Swahid Diwas

To pay homage to the martyrs of the Assam Movement, who laid down their lives, Swahid Diwas is being observed in Assam, on December 10.

On December 10, 1979, the first person was killed in the Assam Agitation in Bhabanipur. He was Khargeswar Talukdar. The day is observed to pay homage to him and other such martyrs.

Assam also launched the construction work of Assam Movement Martyrs’ Memorial Swahid Smarak and Swahid Udyan in Guwahati.

Citizenship Act of 1955

It is an act that provides rules for determining and acquiring Indian citizenship. As per the act, Indian citizenship can be acquired through 5 methods- by birth in India, through registration, by descent (parents Indian citizens before December 10, 1992), by naturalization (extended residence in India), and through the incorporation of the territory into India.

Till now, the Citizenship Act, 1955 has been amended 5 times in the years, 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005, 2015, and latest in 2019.

Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019

The latest amendment in the citizenship act has been introduced in 2019. According to the amendment, 6 non-Muslim communities (Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Christians, and Parsis) from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who arrived before 31^st December 2014 will be eligible for Indian citizenship.

Various protests throughout the country were seen against this amendment. As per the latest report, the rules of the amendment are still under preparation.