Only two applicants in Assam have been granted citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) so far, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary informed the State Assembly on Monday (March 10, 2025).
Speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who holds the Home portfolio, Patowary revealed that 39 applications were received under the CAA, enacted in 2019 and implemented in 2024.
“While two applicants were granted citizenship, the applications of 18 others are under examination, and 19 cases were closed but can be reapplied,” said Patowary, responding to a question from Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, the Karimganj North MLA.
The CAA provides a fast-track citizenship process for non-Muslims who migrated from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan on or before December 31, 2014.
The minister also reported that 156 Bangladeshi nationals were caught entering Assam illegally between 2021 and 2024. The annual figures showed an increase from 51 (2021) to 57 (2022), a drop to 22 (2023), and a rise to 26 (2024) amid political upheaval in Bangladesh.
The CAA has faced strong opposition in Assam, where critics accuse the BJP of using the law to bring in Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh. Activists argue that it undermines the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which used March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for identifying illegal immigrants, as specified in the Assam Accord (1985).
The NRC, updated under Supreme Court supervision, excluded 19.06 lakh of the 3.3 crore applicants when its complete draft was published in August 2019.
