Hindus, Sikhs, Jains From Three Countries Living In Gujarat To Get Indian Citizenship

The centre has decided to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and currently living in two districts of Gujarat under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

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To be granted under the Citizenship Act, 1955

The move comes head of the Gujarat elections as district collectors are empowered to grant citizenship to the said minorities. Notably, the decision to grant citizenship under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and not the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) bears significance.

The CAA also provides for granting Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. However, since the rules under the Act are yet to be framed by the government, no one so far could be granted citizenship under it.

According to a Union home ministry notification, minorities from the three countries residing in the districts of Anand and Mehsana in Gujarat will be allowed registration as a citizen of India under section 5 or will be granted certificate of naturalisation under section 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Rules, 2009.

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The process to obtain citizenship

The minorities will first have to submit their applications online, which will then be verified by the collector at the district level. The application and reports thereon shall be simultaneously made accessible online to the central government, the notification read.

The collector may make such inquiry as he considers necessary for ascertaining the suitability of the applicant and for that purpose forwards the application online to such agencies for verification and comments as may be required for completing such an inquiry, it said.

After completing the entire process, the collector, being satisfied with the suitability of the applicant, grants him or her the citizenship of India by registration or naturalisation and issues a certificate of registration or naturalisation, as the case may be, the notification said.

MHA order

Something of this effect is not happening for the first time. In 2016, 2018 and 2021, the MHA delegated district collectors in several districts of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab to grant citizenship certificates to migrants from the six communities who entered India on valid documents.

CAA passed in 2019

The CAA passed in 2019 seeks to grant Indian citizenship to the six undocumented communities who came to India till December 31, 2014. Following which, there were massive protests in some parts of the country. Over a hundred people even lost their lives during the protests.

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However, the CAA has not been implemented so far as rules under it are yet to be framed.

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