The process of unlocking biometrics can start with Citizenship Act CAA implementation: Himanta Sarma

He admits biometric blockade poses problems in getting ration cards (document)

Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that with the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, the situation has become clear and can begin Process to unlock biometric information frozen during the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“I will discuss the process with the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and other stakeholders and hope that a solution will be reached soon after the elections,” Mr. Sarma told a press conference.

About 2.7 million people in the state have their biometric information locked and they are unable to obtain Aadhaar cards.

In the past two years since the law was enacted, “we are doing the groundwork to remove any doubts about the CAA. It is now clear that anyone arriving after 2014 will not be granted Indian citizenship,” he said.

Mr Sarma said he was 100 per cent confident that no one would come to Assam through CAA and “only those who have applied for NRC will get citizenship”.

He admitted that the biometric blockade had created problems in accessing ration cards and employment and “we will deal with this issue and resolve it”.

He urged people not to be guided by emotions on the CAA issue but should be guided by sound logic.

“We have obtained the data through the NRC process and those who are not included in the list will get citizenship through the Foreigners Tribunal anyway, if not through the CAA,” Mr Sarma said.

He further said that it is expected that around 600,000 people (300,000 each in Barak and Brahmaputra valleys) will be granted citizenship instead of the 2 million scattered in certain areas.

The Supreme Court-monitored National Register of Assam (NRC) released on August 31, 2019, excluded 1.9 million out of 3.4 crore applicants under the 1985 Assam Accord. As a consequence, the agreement provides for “detection and deportation” of all persons entering the state from Bangladesh after March 24, 1971.

NRC and CAA are not linked in other parts of the country, but in Assam, the only state involved in the NRC update exercise, a large number of Bengali Hindus have been left out due to lack of proper legacy data files or legacy data.

As per the notification under CAA rules, the Center will now start granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. These immigrants included Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.

The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently received the presidential assent, but protests against the bill took place in several parts of the country, including Assam, where five people were killed in violence.

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