Allaying fears of indigenous population in India’s Assam, who are wary that the law would threaten their identity, the state’s Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal assured, "not a single person of Bangladesh will get to enter Assam through Citizenship Amendment Act."
“The citizenship law did not encourage fresh influx from Bangladesh, but those that fled the neighbouring country and moved to the state decades ago due to religious persecution would be able to apply for Indian citizenship,” Sonowal said on Friday (Dec 20) reports Indian media outlet NDTV.
Once the process of filing applications for citizenship is over, a list of the claimants would be published, the chief minister stated.
The number would be ‘negligible’, he insisted.
"It is certain that granting of citizenship cannot have any impact on our social construct. Clause 6 of the Assam Accord grants constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people," he said.
Appealing people to maintain calm and not be swayed by "misinformation", Sonowal said his government would always work for their best interests.