GUWAHATI, Oct 21: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while reacting to the Supreme Court’s verdict on the cut-off year for citizenship in the state, said he has “mixed” feelings as the ruling “brings both joy and sorrow”.
“My reaction (to the verdict) will be mixed. There is both joy and sorrow in it. So, I cannot say whether the verdict can be termed historic,” the chief minister told mediapersons here.
“The government’s stance was that since the government had signed the Assam Accord, therefore 1971 should be the cut-off year. Many people in Assam had the aspiration that the cut-off year should be 1951. So, people in the state will have to continue their struggle and move forward in this way,” Sarma said.
The Supreme Court had, in a significant verdict on October 17, 2024, upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, which grants Indian citizenship to immigrants – mostly from Bangladesh – who entered Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971.
The five-judge Constitution bench, comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y Chandrachud, Justices Surya Kant, M.M Sundresh, J.B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra delivered the judgment by a 4:1 majority, recognising the Assam Accord of 1985.
The apex court’s judgment had triggered varied reactions across the state. As it is, the cut-off year for determining citizenship under the Assam Accord has long been a point of contention among sections.
Notably, Section 6A was inserted into the Citizenship Act as a special provision to determine the citizenship of people covered under the Assam Accord.
.