Invoking the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Assam government has instructed district authorities and members of Foreigners Tribunals (FTs) to withdraw cases against individuals from six non-Muslim minority communities Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis who entered the state on or before December 31, 2014, Scroll.in reported on Wednesday.
The directive follows a meeting held on July 17 by the state’s home and political department, under instructions from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. As per the meeting minutes, signed by Additional Chief Secretary Ajay Tiwari, tribunal members have been told not to proceed with cases involving people from these six communities who arrived before the cut-off date.
District commissioners and senior police officials have been asked to coordinate with tribunal members, review the relevant cases, and submit action taken reports. Officials were also directed to encourage eligible individuals to apply for Indian citizenship through the CAA portal, with their applications to be processed by the Union government.
The Assam government has also issued clear orders to withdraw all pending cases against members of the Gorkha and Koch-Rajbongshi communities, instructing officials to ensure full compliance.
The CAA, passed in December 2019 and implemented in March 2024, offers a fast-track path to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived before December 31, 2014. The law has been at the center of national controversy, with critics arguing that it discriminates against Muslims. Protests erupted across the country following its passage but were largely suppressed during the COVID-19 lockdown. Human rights groups, including the United Nations, have raised concerns over the law’s exclusionary nature.
In a further move this July, the Assam government told the state’s border police to stop forwarding cases of undocumented non-Muslim migrants to the Foreigners Tribunals. These tribunals, which determine citizenship status based on documentation dating back to before 1971, have declared more than 1.6 lakh individuals as foreigners, including nearly 70,000 Hindus.
Critics argue that the CAA has created a dual system offering protection to non-Muslims while continuing to subject Muslims to a rigorous tribunal process. Professor Apoorvanand remarked that many Hindus lacking documents are still assumed to be Indian, whereas Muslims face legal proceedings. A recent study by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and Queen Mary University concluded that the tribunals have become instruments of exclusion, undermining constitutional rights and due process.
