3 to 6 lakh people will apply for citizenship under CAA in Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma said
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the recent notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, has emerged as a major political issue in Assam.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at least five lakh Bengali-speaking Hindus, two lakh indigenous Assamese, and 1.5 lakh Gorkhas were left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Out of this, between three and six lakh will apply for citizenship under the CAA, Mr Sarma told a local news channel.
Many people left out of the NRC exercise had documents to prove their citizenship, so they will go to the Foreigners Tribunal instead of applying under the CAA, Mr Sarma said.
"The CAA rules were notified last week and by April 19, we'll have around 40 days. This will be enough time to understand the actual scenario," the Chief Minister said.
"Thirteen Hindu families in Gujarat have already been granted citizenship under the CAA, but in Assam, not many people have applied till now. Many families, especially Hindu Bengalis, entered Assam from Bangladesh even after March 25, 1971, and some of them returned as well," Mr Sarma said.
The cut-off date for legally taking refuge in the state as per the Assam Accord is March 25, 1971.
"Many of these families were denied ration cards by the authorities at that time, so they only had one document - the refugee registration cards issued by border authorities. But Prateek Hajela (former state coordinator of NRC) didn't allow these cards in the NRC update process. Due to this, many names were excluded, around 16 lakh, from the final draft of the NRC which was published in August 2019," Mr Sarma said.
"It has seven lakh Muslims apart from Assamese caste Hindus including Koch Rajbangshi, Kalita, Das, etc. In my opinion, three to six lakh people will apply under the CAA and not 20, 18 or 15 lakh or 1.5 crore, which some people are claiming," the Chief Minister said.
"It can be 10 per cent more or less, but not more than six lakh. A section of andolanjeebi are spreading lies to traumatise the common people. They are saying 1.5 crore Hindu population decreased in Bangladesh and those people have entered Assam. But the fact is, two crore Muslim population increased in that country, so the Hindu population decreased because they were converted," Mr Sarma said.
"The protesters won't tell you the other side... They said a large number of trucks are waiting near the international border, and once CAA comes into existence, they will enter Assam... but fact is nobody from Bangladesh entered our state after CAA rules were notified," the Chief Minister said.