In the Indian state of Assam, the new National Register of Citizens (NRC) threatens everyone who is not registered with statelessness. From about 4 million people that have applied for the inclusion of their names, 1,9 million have already been denied in the recently published NRC. Statelessness could be a way for the Indian ruling classes to facilitate deportation of oppressed nationalities, similar to the Rohingyas in Myanmar. This comes only shortly after the new oppressive legislation concerning the oppression of Kashmir. Assam is India’s state with the second highest Muslim population, after Kashmir.
Protests and strikes against the NRC were held in Assam and in New Deli last week.
Like the Kashmiris, the Assamese are not new to the oppression of the Indian ruling classes. The CPI(Maoist) writes in their resolution of the ninth congress/unity congress: “India is a country of many nationalities at various phases of development. They have been struggling in different forms against the repressive and expansionist policies of the Indian ruling classes.”
The Assamese are one of these oppressed nationalities. And they have waged their militant struggle for self determination, lead by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). The Indian ruling classes and their imperialist masters, US imperialism in particular, have tried to suppress this struggle with force in 2010, but their dark plans were crossed when the ULFA got active again.
The CPI(Maoist) supports the struggle of the oppressed nations and nationalities in India. Also in the Unity congress resolution, they write: “This Congress asserts that the various nationalities are independent, equal and sovereign, and that they are free to form a voluntary union based on the principle of the right to self-determination and equality. The Congress also supports the just struggles of those nationalities and sub-nationalities that demand a separate state for their development. Moreover, it also reiterates its resolve to extend all possible support to their just and democratic struggle.”
