Himanta Biswa Sarma says 3 to 6 lakh people in Assam will apply for citizenship under CAA

Himanta Biswa Sarma says 3 to 6 lakh people in Assam will apply for citizenship under CAA

Guwahati:

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the recently announced Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) has become a major political issue in Assam.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at least 500,000 Bengali Hindus, 200,000 indigenous Assamese and 150,000 Gorkhas were excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Mr Sarma told a local news channel that between 300,000 and 600,000 of them would apply for citizenship under the CAA.

Sarma said many of those excluded from the NRC have documents proving their citizenship, so they will apply to the Foreigners Tribunal instead of applying under the CAA.

“The CAA rules were notified last week and we will have about 40 days till April 19. This will be enough time to know the actual situation,” the chief minister said.

“Thirteen Hindu families in Gujarat have been granted citizenship under the CAA, but in Assam, not many have applied so far. Many families, especially Hindu Bengalis, were granted citizenship even after March 25, 1971 The same goes for those who entered Assam from Bangladesh and some of them returned to Assam,” Mr. Sarma said.

According to the Assam Accord, the deadline for legal asylum in the state was March 25, 1971.

“The authorities at that time refused to issue ration cards to these families, so they had only one document – ​​the refugee registration card issued by the border authorities. But Prateek Hajela (former National Coordinator of NRC) did not allow these cards to enter the border. NRC updated the process. So, Many names (around 1.6 million) were excluded from the final draft of the NRC released in August 2019,” Mr. Sarma said.

“Besides the Assamese caste Hindus, there are seven lakh Muslims including Koch Rajbangshi, Kalita, Das etc. In my opinion , three to six lakh people will apply under CAA and instead of Rs 20, 18, 15 lakh or 15 crore, some people will apply. Claims are being made,” the chief minister said.

“It can be 10% more or less, but not more than 6 lakh. A section of Andolan jibi is spreading lies and hurting common people. They are saying that the Hindu population in Bangladesh has decreased by 1.5 billion and these people have entered Assam .But the fact is that the Muslim population in the country has increased by two crores and hence the Hindu population has decreased due to conversions,” Mr. Sarma said.

“The protesters won’t tell you the other side… They say a large number of trucks are waiting near the international border and they will enter Assam once the CAA is formed… But the fact is there is no one from Bangladesh into our country,” the chief minister said, “stated after the CAA rules were notified.”