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In a rare case under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), a 40-year-old woman from Sribhumi district, who entered India from Bangladesh in 2007, has been granted Indian citizenship. A 61-year-old man from Cachar district has also received citizenship under the Act, officials confirmed.
Senior advocate Dharmanand Dev, former member of the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in Silchar, said the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued citizenship certificates to both individuals on Friday. As per legal provisions, citizenship in such cases is deemed effective from the date of entry into India. Owing to concerns over social and personal repercussions, the identities of both beneficiaries have been kept confidential.
He said the woman, who uses the surname Banerjee, had arrived in Silchar in 2007 to accompany a family member for treatment at Silchar Medical College and Hospital. There, she met a man from Sribhumi (formerly Karimganj district), married him, and stayed back.
Legal experts have described the woman’s case as particularly significant, noting that citizenship through the registration route under the CAA is exceedingly rare in Assam.
According to Dev, the woman who uses the surname Banerjee had arrived in Silchar in 2007 to accompany a relative undergoing treatment at Silchar Medical College and Hospital. During her stay, she met a local resident from Sribhumi district, whom she later married.
The couple subsequently settled permanently in Assam and have a son. While her extended family continues to reside in Chattogram, Bangladesh, she had long sought Indian citizenship.
Her first application, submitted in July last year, was rejected due to confusion caused by the delimitation exercise before the Lok Sabha elections.
Badarpur area, where she now lives, was partially moved from Sribhumi to Cachar, creating uncertainty over her district jurisdiction. The lawyer reapplied, and her case was finally approved.
Deb said she is the first woman in Assam to receive citizenship under the CAA, and notably the first in the state to be granted citizenship through the registration route.
“This was granted under Section 5(1)(c), read with Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which allows a person married to an Indian citizen to register as an Indian citizen after residing in India for seven years,” he explained.
The second beneficiary, a resident of Silchar town, came to India in 1975 at the age of 11 from Bangladesh’s Srimangal region in Moulvibazar district. Born in 1964, he settled in Silchar, married locally, and raised a family. He has now received citizenship through the naturalisation process.
With these two approvals, Assam now has four individuals who entered India after the 1971 cut-off and have been granted citizenship under CAA. Deb said he has assisted around 25 applicants over the last 18 months, but many applications were rejected or remain pending.
The CAA, passed on December 11, 2019, sparked statewide protests, particularly in Assam. Since the rules were notified last year, nearly 40 persons in the state have applied. The legislation enables Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Parsi migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India between March 25, 1971 and December 31, 2014 to apply for citizenship.
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