Assam to Register CAA Applications of 3-5 Lakh Out of People Excluded From Updated NRC, Himanta Says

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that about three-five lakh people will apply for Indian citizenship under the CAA in the state, asserting that the applicants will comprise only those who were excluded from the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC), news agency PTI reported.

The chief minister further stated that seven lakh Muslims and five lakh Hindu-Bengalis, among others, were left out of the NRC list. “Many Hindu-Bengalis had come at different points of time and stayed at refugee camps. When they applied for inclusion in the NRC, they submitted a stamped paper as proof of having stayed at such camps. But, Prateek Hajela (former NRC state coordinator) did not accept the paper. As a result, names of many Hindu-Bengalis were not included in the NRC,” PTI quoted Sarma as saying in an interview to a local television channel.

He said that while many among the five lakh Hindu-Bengalis who had applied for inclusion in NRC will submit applications under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, many others will take legal recourse.

Applicants excluded from the NRC also include two lakh ‘proper Assamese’ like those having the Das (surname), the 'Koch-Rajbongshi' (community) and 1.5 lakh Gorkhas, Sarma reportedly said.

“Applications under the CAA will be between three and five lakhs, with a 10 percent margin of error. There won’t be any 15 or 18 or 20 lakh or 1.5 crore applicants in Assam. After being in politics for so long, I have that much grip on the state,” the senior BJP leader added.

The Supreme Court-monitored National Register of Citizens, which was published on 31 August 2019, had excluded 19 lakh out of the total 3.4 crore applicants.

Earlier this month, the Centre had implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, notifying the rules four years after the law was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before 31 December 2014. 

(With inputs from PTI)