Guwahati, July 16: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed on Monday that only eight people from the state have applied for citizenship under the country’s amended citizenship law so far.
Addressing a press conference, Sarma said, “Of the eight people, only two have appeared for the hearing. Rest haven’t proceeded after applying.”
Sarma further said that Hindu Bengalis in the state have been approached, however, they are reluctant insisting that they are Indians. He claimed, “Instead, they want to pursue the cases pending before the Foreigners Tribunals, they say they are Indians and so won’t apply for the CAA. The BJP has also organised outreach programmes in Barak, but people are reluctant. This is general sentiment.”
Further ridiculing the organisations who staged protest against the new citizenship law, Sarma said, “There are imaginary figures (of the number of people who could benefit from the law) put out by organisations. Even I had thought there could be around 1.5 lakh applicants. But even I was wrong. The chapter is more or less closed now.”
The chief minister stated that the state government will pursue the cases of those whose biometrics have been frozen during the NRC updating process and cannot get their Aadhar cards.