“There is no reason to suspect Hindu Bengalis, who came to Assam before 1971 (Bangladesh liberation war), as foreign nationals,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said after a Cabinet meeting. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said hardly any Hindu Bengalis in the State have taken the Citizenship (Amendment) Act route, as they are certain of their identity as Indians.
The CAA fast-tracks the citizenship process for allegedly persecuted non-Muslims who took refuge in India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan on or before December 31, 2014.
“There is no reason to suspect Hindu Bengalis, who came to Assam before 1971 (Bangladesh liberation war), as foreign nationals. The CAA has no relevance for them, and so they have not applied for citizenship under it,” the Chief Minister said after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (September 9, 2025).
He stated that the government received only 12 applications under the CAA, that came into force in 2024, and three of them were granted citizenship under the Act.
“If there are lakhs of applications, we will consider the matter and take necessary steps, but this is not relevant in the State now,” he said.
Organisations that spearheaded the anti-CAA movement in Assam in 2019 claimed the amended Act would bring in more than two crore Hindu Bengalis from Bangladesh.
He claimed that Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister, facilitated the settlement of Hindu Bengalis in 1971 and did not indicate they would be sent back after the 1971 war was over.
He also said there have been no applications for citizenship since the Immigration and Foreigners’ (Exemption) Order, 2025, came into effect a few weeks ago. The Order has been criticised for undermining the Assam Accord, which set March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for detecting and deporting illegal migrants.
Published – September 10, 2025 10:51 pm IST
