43% Hindu foreigners detected in Assam from 1971-2014: State govt.

Assam government reveals over 43% of detected foreigners from 1971-2017 were Hindus, sparking citizenship concerns.

GUWAHATI

The Assam government on Thursday said more than 43% of the 47,928 foreigners detected in the State from 1971 to 2014 were Hindus.

The Foreigners’ Tribunals declared these people, including 20,613 Hindus, as non-citizens during this period.

Also read: How do Assam’s Foreigners Tribunals function? | Explained

In a written reply to Asom Gana Parishad MLA Ponakan Baruah, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the 126-member State Assembly that 27,309 of these foreigners were Muslims accounting for 56.9% of the total detections. Six belonged to other religions, he said.

The midnight of March 24, 1971, is the cut-off date for the detection and deportation of foreigners or “illegal immigrants” according to the Assam Accord of 1985. The cut-off date for fast-tracking non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 is December 31, 2014.

The Chief Minister said that the highest number of foreigners were detected in southern Assam’s Bengali-dominated Cachar district. Of the 10,152 people declared foreigners in this district, 8,139 were Hindus and 2,013 were Muslims.