Office of the foreigners tribunal in Barpeta district of Assam.
| Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar
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.
Citing the 2011 Census, he said the Assamese-speaking people accounted for 48.38% of Assam’s population of 3.12 crore. The Bengali speakers — Hindus and Muslims — in the State numbered 90.24 lakh or 28.92% of the total population.
He also said the State government was monitoring the situation arising out of the increase in the population of non-Assamese speakers and its impact on the indigenous communities.
