Three lakh to six lakh of those excluded from the register could apply for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act, the chief minister said.
By Scroll Staff
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that seven lakh Muslims are among the 19 lakh persons left out of the National Register of Citizens for the state, News Live reported.
Sarma, during an interview with the television channel, also said that five lakh Bengali Hindus, two lakh Assamese Hindu groups Koch-Rajbongshi, Das, Kalita and Sarma (Assamese), and 1.5 lakh Gorkhas had been excluded from the register.
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. The breakup provided by Sarma amounts to 15.5 lakh. It was unclear who are the remaining 3.5 lakh persons.
Sarma had told The Indian Express at the time that nearly five lakh to six lakh of those excluded had migrated from Bangladesh due to religious persecution before 1971.
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