HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Sept 5: BJP spokesperson Devajit Mahanta on Friday accused the opposition parties of deliberately misrepresenting the Immigrant Foreigners [Relief] 2025 Proclamation for electoral gains ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
Addressing a press conference at the State Office of Assam Pradesh BJP, he said that Congress, Raijor Dal and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) were attempting to rekindle unrest in the State by misleading people about the directive.
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According to Mahanta, if the opposition tried to disturb the atmosphere of peace restored in Assam after years of agitation, they would have to answer before the people’s court.
He recalled the anti-CAA movement, alleging that emotional manipulation by certain groups had led to loss of innocent lives, widespread unrest, and even damage to cultural landmarks such as Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra.
He said that while opposition leaders had claimed during the CAA agitation that nearly two crore people from Bangladesh would enter Assam to claim citizenship, the ground reality was far removed.
“It has been five years and seven months since CAA was implemented. Against the exaggerated claims of crores, only 12 people applied for citizenship in Assam, out of which only three were granted citizenship,” Mahanta stated.
He added that the figures proved that the agitation was used merely as a political platform by certain individuals and organisations.
Citing historical precedents, Mahanta said that the Congress party itself had once endorsed citizenship for persecuted minorities from Bangladesh.
He referred to an official memorandum sent by former chief minister Tarun Gogoi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 20 April 2012, requesting Indian citizenship for Hindus facing religious persecution in Bangladesh.
He also recalled that the very next day, the then Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President, late Anjan Dutta, had announced in a press conference alongside Ripun Bora that APCC would urge the AICC to support such a proposal.
Clarifying misconceptions surrounding the Immigrant Foreigners [Relief] 2025 Proclamation, Mahanta said that contrary to opposition claims, the directive had not extended the cut-off date for applications from 31 December 2014 to 31 December 2024.
Instead, the notification simply permitted, with official recognition, persons from six religions—Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian—coming from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to legally reside in India.
He stressed that the directive carried no adverse impact on the demography of Assam.
Mahanta urged the people of Assam not to be misled by what he termed as “anti-national activities of Congress and opposition parties.”
Instead, he appealed for public support to strengthen the Bharatiya Janata Party’s efforts in building a developed and progressive Assam.
