No new direction beyond CAA provisions: Sarma denies dropping cases of illegal immigrants

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has denied that any direction was given to foreigners tribunals to drop cases against non-Muslims who entered the state before 2015, stating that no new order has been issued beyond the provisions already contained in the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), amid criticism from various quarters, including the All Assam Students’ Union, which argued that the move violated the principles of the Assam Accord.

While Scroll reported that a meeting chaired by the home and political department on July 17 instructed district commissioners, police officials and tribunal members to drop cases involving Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis who entered Assam on or before the cut-off date, the chief minister clarified that no special Cabinet decision had been taken and the existing provisions of the CAA were being followed.

The July meeting, according to official minutes signed by the additional chief secretary, recommended that district authorities consult with tribunal members and periodically report on progress made, with encouragement given to eligible individuals from the six religious communities to apply for citizenship under the CAA instead of undergoing tribunal scrutiny.

The All Assam Students’ Union reacted strongly to the development and announced its intention to protest the government's decision, arguing that the move violated the principles of the Assam Accord, which requires the identification and deportation of all undocumented immigrants who arrived in the state after March 24, 1971, regardless of religion.

Assam’s border police had earlier been instructed in July 2024 not to refer cases of non-Muslims who had entered India before 2015 to foreigners tribunals, with the state asserting that their citizenship applications would be processed through the central government’s CAA portal.

Although Sarma reiterated that the amended law offers legal protection to specified communities and that no new decision was required to implement its provisions, critics argue that this approach undermines the state’s efforts to identify undocumented migrants impartially and disrupts the intent of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Of the 1.6 lakh people declared foreigners in Assam so far, over 69,500 have been identified as Hindus, and with more than 19 lakh persons excluded from the NRC in 2019, concerns remain that the amended law disproportionately benefits non-Muslims while leaving many Muslims vulnerable to statelessness.