The Demographic Change In Assam: A Legal Perspective

Abstract

The distinct and shared demography of Assam, makes the land of Brahmaputra and Barak valley, a unique one among the celebrated seven sisters of North east India. With the 15.09 million Assamese speaking and 6-7.5 million Bengali speaking people among others, the population count is about 3.09 crores. Throughout the passage of time, change in the numbers of people brought a grave concern leading to the signing of the historic ‘Assam Accord’ and amendment of the citizenship act 1955.The rate of population rolled up to 24.2% in 1991, 18.9% in 2001 and 17.1% in 2011 respectively. Land, language, culture, a matter of pride for the indigenous people of Assam is too upheld by the Convention for Indigenous and Tribal peoples,1989. The recent NRC up-dation under the supervision of the supreme court has given some relief until the sudden introduction of the citizenship amendment act,2019 and legalizing the foreigners unleashing the aspect of xenophobia causing series of violence and difference among the valleys. This paper shall endeavor to learn about the demography of Assam and the changes in course of time. It shall too focus on the relationship between the section 6(A) of the citizenship (amendment) act 1955, Assam accord and rules of NRC up-dation along with visiting the International covenants and constitution of India. The paper will also touch upon various incidents of protest and clashes to preserve identity and recommendations thereof.