Overview

• The Home Ministry’s Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025 allows Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered by December 31, 2024 to stay without passports or valid travel documents.
• The All Assam Students’ Union held an 11-hour hunger strike across districts and announced further protests, demanding Assam’s exclusion from the CAA and repeal of the new order.
• Assam Congress, the Assam Jatiya Parishad and allied groups denounced the move as a BJP vote‑bank tactic that violates the Assam Accord, with some leaders calling it a “second CAA.”
• Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma downplayed the practical impact in Assam, saying only 12 people have applied under the CAA and three have been granted citizenship.
• Legal observers emphasized that the exemption does not confer citizenship and noted that broader challenges to the CAA remain pending before the Supreme Court.