Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently stated that between three to six lakh individuals excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) could potentially apply for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
During a televised interview, Sarma provided insights into the demographics of the 19 lakh people not listed in Assam's NRC, noting that this group includes seven lakh Muslims, five lakh Bengali Hindus, and significant numbers from Assamese Hindu communities such as Koch-Rajbongshi, Das, Kalita, and Sarma, along with 1.5 lakh Gorkhas.
The NRC, updated on August 31, 2019, aims to establish the legal residency of individuals in Assam by requiring proof of residency or ancestral presence in the state before March 24, 1971. Despite the clarity it sought to bring, over 19 lakh individuals failed to secure their names on the list, leaving about 3.5 lakh people in a state of ambiguity regarding their status.
Ironically each of these people now has to declare themselves as Bangladeshi first to apply through CAA. All of them had applied to the NRC as Indians and there would be a complete paradigm shift.
Sarma elucidated that a notable fraction of those not included, specifically five to six lakh, were Bengali Hindus who had fled to India to escape religious persecution before 1971. He mentioned that these individuals, along with others excluded from the NRC, are eligible to apply for citizenship through the CAA, enacted on March 11. The CAA facilitates a faster route to citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, provided they entered India before December 31, 2014, and have resided in the country for six years.
However, Sarma expressed concerns regarding the potential effectiveness of the CAA in Assam, anticipating a low number of applications. He attributed this to the stringent documentation requirements of the CAA, which demand proof of residency in India before the stipulated cutoff date, suggesting that those who did not seek inclusion in the NRC may also refrain from applying for citizenship under the CAA due to these challenges.
