Assam Government Directs Non-Muslim Immigrants to Seek Citizenship Under CAA

The Assam government has directed its border police to stop forwarding cases of non-Muslim illegal immigrants who entered the state before 2015 to the Foreigners Tribunal. These individuals are advised to apply for citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which grants eligibility to non-Muslim immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who arrived by 2014.

The Assam government has instructed its border police to refrain from forwarding cases involving non-Muslim illegal immigrants who entered the state prior to 2015 to the Foreigners Tribunal.

According to a letter from the Home and Political Secretary Parth Pratim Majumdar, these individuals should apply for citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which grants eligibility to non-Muslim immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India by 2014.

The directive issued on July 5 specifies that Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Jain, and Christian immigrants who arrived before December 31, 2014, should not be sent to the Foreigners Tribunal but instead apply on the citizenship portal.

Majumdar clarified that immigrants from these countries who entered Assam after December 31, 2014, regardless of their religion, should be forwarded to the Foreigners Tribunal. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma emphasized that this statutory order follows legal norms and stated that immigrants arriving in 2015 or later will be deported.

He reiterated that under the Assam Accord, all foreigners entering the state on or after March 25, 1971, would have their names removed from electoral rolls and face deportation.

(With inputs from agencies.)