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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Das had applied for Indian citizenship in April after the CAA rules were notified over four years after the law’s passage in 2019.
NEW DELHI: Dulon Das, 50, has become the first person in Assam to receive Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Das, whose family migrated to Silchar from Sylhet in Bangladesh in 1988, was informed by the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday that his citizenship had been granted. He was instructed to visit the Regional Passport Office in Guwahati to collect his citizenship certificate.
Das applied for Indian citizenship in April after the CAA rules were finally notified over four years after the law’s passage in 2019. His family had relocated to Assam in 1988 following multiple attacks in their homeland. Despite living in Assam for over three decades and having voted there since 1996, Das had not applied for the National Register of Citizens (NRC), as establishing the necessary family tree for inclusion was deemed impossible.
Instead, Das applied for citizenship under the CAA, which fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. A lawyer in Silchar, who had assisted Hindu NRC applicants, advised Das to wait for the CAA rather than pursue the NRC route.
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Das, a father of two, has been living in Silchar since the early 2000s when he bought land and obtained a driving license. The citizenship process he underwent included police verification, during which he provided documents such as the deed to their land in Sylhet.
Dharmananda Deb, a former member of the Foreigners Tribunal-4 in Silchar and Das’s lawyer revealed that eight people had applied for citizenship under the CAA across Assam. Of these, two had withdrawn their applications. Deb mentioned that six applications, including Das’s, are currently under review by the Union Home Ministry, with four of them expected to be granted citizenship soon.
Das’s lawyer also mentioned that they were considering an alternative option since it would be challenging for Das to travel to Guwahati, which is over 300 kilometres away, to collect the certificate.
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The central government notified the CAA rules in March, just before the general elections, which allowed the formal process of granting citizenship to undocumented immigrants to begin. However, the lack of awareness about the CAA has been cited as a reason for the relatively low number of applications.
With the notification of the CAA rules in March this year, the law has now come into full effect, offering a new pathway to citizenship for many immigrants who have been living in India without proper documentation.
