NDA-ally AGP to move SC, seek exemption of Assam from immigrant foreigners’ directive

Guwahati, Sep 6 (PTI) The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a constituent of the BJP-led government in Assam, on Saturday said it will approach the Supreme Court to exempt the northeastern state from the Centre's recent directive on immigrant foreigners.

The party asserted it was in opposition to any step that goes against the spirit of the Assam Accord, including the recent order.

The Assam Accord was signed on August 15, 1985 after a violent anti-foreigner movement, which claimed the lives of thousands.

“We have decided to file a writ petition before the Supreme Court, asking for exemption of Assam from the order,” AGP vice-president and former MP Kumar Deepak Das told a press conference here.

“Any step that seeks to dilute or is against the Assam Accord will be protested vehemently by our party,” he said.

The Centre's order, issued under the recently implemented Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, allows Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2024, to stay in the country without valid travel documents, if they fled religious persecution.

In a departure from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 that earmarked December 31, 2014 as the entry deadline for non-Muslim immigrants to India as eligibility for granting of citizenship, the latest order extends the entry date for such immigrants by another 10 years as grounds for their non-prosecution Asked whether the AGP will continue to remain part of the NDA, Das said no decision has been taken in this regard.

“Last evening, we had a party meeting in which it was decided to approach the apex court. We have full faith in the judiciary and believe it will rule in our favour,” he said.

The AGP had earlier filed another writ petition before the top court, seeking similar exemption for Assam in connection with the CAA. The matter is sub-judice. PTI SSG RBT