The Assam government on July 5 asked the state’s border police not to forward cases of non-Muslims who entered India illegally before 2014 to foreigners tribunals.

This effectively means that Hindu Bengalis, among other non-Muslims in the state, will for now not be prosecuted by the tribunals, which are quasi-judicial bodies that adjudicate on matters of citizenship. Existing cases, however, will not be dropped, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma clarified on Monday.

The border police, which investigates citizenship cases, was told that applicants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Jain and Buddhist faiths should “be advised” to apply for citizenship on the Citizenship Amendment Act portal, and that their cases would be decided by the Union government.

However, only eight persons in Assam have applied for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act in the four months since its rules were notified, Sarma said on Monday.

This is because most individuals want to prove their citizenship in a court of law, he said.

Out of the eight applicants, only two have appeared for the interview as part of the expedited citizenship process, Sarma told reporters.

While the legislation was passed by Parliament in late 2019, the Centre notified the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on March 11. It provides a fast-track to Indian citizenship for refugees from six minority religious communities, except Muslims, from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the condition that they have lived in India for six years and have entered the country by December 31, 2014.

Those seeking Indian citizenship under the Act are required to apply through a web portal created for this purpose.

Indian Muslims fear that the law could be used, along with the nationwide National Register of Citizens, to harass and disenfranchise them. The National Register of Citizens is a proposed exercise to identify undocumented immigrants.

On Monday, Sarma told reporters that it had become clear that members of Assam’s Hindu Bengali community who are not in the state’s National Register of Citizens will not apply under the Citizenship Amendment Act to acquire Indian citizenship.

“They say they came to India prior to 1971,” the chief minister said, referring to the cut-off year as prescribed under the Assam Accord.

Assam published a National Register of Citizens on August 31, 2019, with the aim to separate Indian citizens from undocumented immigrants living in the state. Residents had to prove that they or their ancestors had entered Assam before midnight on March 24, 1971 in order for them to be included in the list.

Over 19 lakh persons, or 5.77% of the applicants, were left out of the final list.

“I have met many people, they are telling us that ‘we are convinced about our Indian citizenship, we want to prove that in a court of law’,” said Sarma on Monday. “That is the general sentiment among the people in Assam.”

However, he added that certain cases in the foreigners tribunals might need to be paused for a few months to encourage applicants to apply for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“Anybody [according to the Citizenship Amendment Act] who has come to India before 2015, has the first right to apply for citizenship,” Sarma said. “If they don’t apply, we will lodge a case for them. So this is a statutory instruction. We will deport those who have come after 2015.”

“We can’t drop any cases [pending in foreigners tribunals],” the chief minister said. “We are only saying to apply under the CAA before filing cases because these people are entitled for the citizenship under CAA. We are only flagging the provision of the law. Our party did outreach programme in Barak valley. But people hardly apply.”

Also read: ‘Betrayal by BJP’: Why CAA rules might not help Hindu Bengalis left out of Assam NRC