Centre receives 23 citizenship applications under CAA in Assam, two granted

Guwahati, Jan 9: Though the Government of India started receiving applications for the grant of citizenship under the provisions of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, in March last year, so far only two persons have been granted citizenship under the provisions of the Act in Assam. Under the provisions of the CAA, the government wants to provide citizenship to the persons belonging to the Hindu, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, and Parsi communities who entered India from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan before March 31, 2014.

According to the information available, so far 24 applications have been received for citizenship under the CAA in Assam from 23 persons, as one person applied twice. The applications are scrutinised by district-level committees and then forwarded to the state-level committee for approval.

To get citizenship under the CAA, the applicants have to apply through an online portal launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The applicants have to provide the exact date of his or her entry into India and will have to provide a certificate from a locally reputed community institution of the country of origin. The applicants will have to provide a valid or expired passport of the country of origin.

The other documents for the application for citizenship under the CAA include a registration certificate from the Foreigners' Registration Office (FRO), a birth certificate issued by the authorities of the country of origin, any official identity card of the country of origin, a land or tenancy document of the country of origin, etc.

However, as most of the foreigners in Assam entered illegally and settled here, it will be difficult for the majority of them to obtain such papers and prove that they entered before December 31, 2014. Moreover, the majority of such migrants might have applied for inclusion of names in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), claiming themselves as Indian citizens, and now it will be difficult for them to claim that they are Bangladesh nationals. Moreover, the majority of such people have been in India safely for years, and now they will not want to stir the hornet's nest by admitting that they are Bangladesh nationals.

Meanwhile, a number of petitions against the CAA are pending before the Supreme Court, and under the circumstances, the Bangladesh nationals who are staying in India will not take the risk of admitting their foreign origin.

By-

R Dutta Choudhury