Guwahati: The Assam government has asked the state’s border police not to forward cases of non-Muslims who entered India illegally before December 31, 2014, to foreigners’ tribunals.
The directive issued by the state government means that Hindu Bengalis, among other non-Muslims in the state, will for now not be prosecuted by the tribunals, which are quasi-judicial bodies that adjudicate on matters of citizenship.
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According to reports, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday that the existing cases, however, will not be dropped.
The state border police, which investigates citizenship cases, has been directed that applicants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Jain and Buddhist faiths should “be advised” to apply for citizenship on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) portal and that their cases would be decided by the Union government.
According to Sarma, only eight persons in Assam have applied for citizenship under the CAA in the four months since its rules were notified.
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He said this is primarily because most individuals want to prove their citizenship in a court of law.
Out of the eight applicants, only two have appeared for the interview as part of the expedited citizenship process, Sarma told reporters.
While the legislation was passed by Parliament in late 2019, the Centre notified the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on March 11.
It provides a fast track to Indian citizenship for refugees from six minority religious communities, except Muslims, from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the condition that they have lived in India for six years and have entered the country by December 31, 2014.