- GUWAHATI — Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday asserted that
the government would speed up the process of deporting illegal immigrants from
the state to safeguard the indigenous community.
-
- While speaking at the Assembly, CM Sarma said, “The state
government is set to use the 1950 law to expel the illegal immigrants here. The
apex Court of the country has also given a nod regarding this. The
administrative machinery will work accordingly to make Assam free from illegal
immigrants.”
-
- The Chief Minister also pressed for safeguarding the
interests of Assamese people. He said, “I am an Assamese first and a Chief
Minister later.”
-
- The Assam government has decided to invoke a little-known
law from 1950 -- the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Order -- to fast-track
the deportation of undocumented immigrants, bypassing the usual judicial
process.
Also read: Assam Police to adopt 'zero tolerance' towards various crimes: Himanta Biswa Sarma
- Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the shift
earlier, stating that the identification and removal of "foreigners"
would now proceed at a faster pace after slowing down due to complications
surrounding the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
-
- “This time, if someone is identified as a foreigner, we
will not have to approach the foreigners’ tribunal to initiate a pushback,” CM
Sarma said.
-
- Referring to a previous Supreme Court hearing on Section
6A of the Citizenship Act, he added that the court had clarified that the Assam
government is not obligated to seek judicial approval for every deportation.
-
- He pointed to the Immigrants Expulsion Order, enacted in
1950, which he claimed grants district commissioners (DCs) the authority to
issue deportation orders without judicial intervention. “Our lawyers had not
informed us about this provision earlier. We recently became aware of it, and
we are now taking it seriously,” he said.
