Assam: Woman who entered India in 2007, granted Indian citizenship under CAA, rare case under registration route

A 40-year-old woman from Sribhumi district, who entered India from Bangladesh in 2007, has been granted Indian citizenship, making her case one of the rarest of its kind in the state. Alongside her, a 61-year-old man from Cachar district has also received citizenship under the Act.

Senior advocate Dharmanand Dev, former member of the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in Silchar, confirmed that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued citizenship certificates to both beneficiaries on Friday. As mandated by law, citizenship in such cases is deemed effective from the date of entry into India. Given concerns over possible social and personal repercussions, the identities of both individuals have been kept confidential.

Legal experts describe the woman’s case as particularly significant, as 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 seeking treatment at Silchar Medical College and Hospital. During her stay, she met a local resident from Sribhumi district, whom she later married. The couple eventually settled permanently in Assam and now have a son. While her extended family continues to reside in Chattogram, Bangladesh, she had long aspired to secure Indian citizenship.

Following the notification of the CAA rules, she submitted her application in July this year. However, her first attempt was rejected due to administrative complications arising from the delimitation exercise conducted ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Badarpur area, where she resides, was partially reassigned from Sribhumi district to Cachar district, leading to confusion over jurisdiction. After rectifying the discrepancies, she reapplied, and the application was eventually approved.

Dev explained that citizenship was granted under Section 5(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, read with Section 6B, which allows a foreign national married to an Indian citizen to obtain citizenship through registration after seven years of continuous residence. He noted that while CAA approvals in Assam have been limited overall, cases granted through registration are even fewer.

The second beneficiary, a resident of Silchar city, entered India from the Srimangal area of Bangladesh’s Moulvibazar district in 1975 at the age of 11. Born in 1964, he later married in Silchar and established his life in Assam. His citizenship has been granted through the process of naturalisation.

With these two approvals, only four individuals in Assam have so far received citizenship under the CAA despite entering India after the 1971 cut-off date. Dev revealed that over the past 18 months, he has assisted nearly 25 applicants, but a majority of applications remain pending or have been rejected.

The CAA, enacted on December 11, 2019, had sparked widespread protests across Assam. Since the notification of its rules, approximately 40 people in the state have applied under the Act. The legislation offers a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Parsi migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India between March 25, 1971, and December 31, 2014.

Despite nearly two lakh individuals in Assam still being categorised as “doubtful citizens,” the number of CAA applicants remains strikingly low. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly stated that the majority of Hindu migrants had entered Assam prior to 1971.

The law continues to draw mixed reactions from political and legal circles. Senior advocate of the Gauhati High Court and Congress leader Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury questioned the effectiveness of the CAA, arguing that it has failed to provide meaningful relief to persecuted Hindus, particularly in light of the evolving situation in Bangladesh.

In contrast, former Hojai MLA and senior BJP leader Shiladitya Dev welcomed the development, calling it a positive outcome of the Act that could encourage eligible members of the persecuted Hindu community to come forward and apply.

Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev, however, accused the BJP of adopting inconsistent approaches to the CAA across states. She pointed out that while citizenship certificates are being openly distributed in Odisha, the process in Assam remains muted and opaque.

Highlighting systemic delays, Dharmanand Dev criticised the functioning of the state-level empowered committee, stating that procedural sluggishness has caused unnecessary hardship to genuine applicants. He urged authorities to adopt a more sensitive and time-bound approach so that individuals fleeing persecution can receive timely relief.