Against 12 applications, just 3 get citizenship under CAA in Assam: CM Sarma

Guwahati, Sep 3: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Wednesday, said that only three people in the state have been granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) against 12 applications received so far.

Addressing the press on the sidelines of an event in Guwahati, Sarma said the numbers show that earlier apprehensions about lakhs of foreigners gaining citizenship through the Act were unfounded.

“In Assam, only three people have got citizenship under the CAA so far. We have received just 12 applications, nine of which are under consideration,” the Chief Minister said.

He added that discussions around the CAA have lost relevance given the low number of applicants compared to the projections made by opponents of the legislation.

“There was a hue and cry that 20–25 lakh people would get citizenship in Assam. Now, when we received only 12 applications, you can yourself decide whether it is relevant to discuss CAA anymore,” Sarma said.

The Chief Minister, however, did not disclose the country of origin of the newly granted citizens. Notably, Dulon Das, a 50-year-old man, was the first person in Assam to receive citizenship under the CAA in August 2024.

Although the Government of India began accepting applications for citizenship under the CAA in March last year, progress in Assam has been minimal.

Official data shows that 24 applications were filed by 23 individuals, with one person applying twice. The applications undergo scrutiny by district-level committees before being forwarded to a state-level committee for approval.

To qualify, applicants must belong to the Hindu, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, or Parsi communities and have entered India from Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Afghanistan before December 31, 2014.

Applicants must apply through the online portal launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and provide key details such as the exact date of entry into India and proof of origin, including a valid or expired passport, certificates from community institutions, or documents like birth certificates, land records, and tenancy agreements from their country of origin.

However, officials admit that most migrants who entered Assam illegally are unlikely to possess such documents.

Complicating matters further, many had already applied for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) by claiming to be Indian, making it difficult for them to now assert Bangladeshi origin.

Experts say this explains the low number of applications despite initial fears of a flood of claimants.

Many of those who have been living in India for decades are unwilling to stir controversy by admitting foreign origin, especially with multiple petitions against the CAA still pending before the Supreme Court.

Against this backdrop, officials believe only a handful of applications are likely to move forward in Assam in the coming years.

With inputs from PTI