Grant citizenship to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh minorities: MHA

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• Nov 1, 2022 | Dhupali Das

The most recent notice clarifies that applications must be filed online and that they must first go through...

Digital Desk: The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order on Monday allowing collectors in Gujarat's Mehsana and Anand districts to issue citizenship certificates under the Citizenship Act of 1955 to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

It should be noted that the announcement has nothing to do with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, which has yet to take full effect.

As per Sections 5 (by registration) and 6 (naturalization) of the Citizenship Act of 1955, the announcement made on October 31 is intended to assist lawful immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who have previously registered for citizenship.

The most recent notice clarifies that applications must be filed online and that they must first go through district-level verification by the Collector before being sent to central authorities.

Previously, the MHA assigned such powers to district magistrates or collectors. Similar orders issued in 2016, 2018, and 2021 empowered District Magistrates in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab to issue citizenship certificates to migrants from the six communities who entered India with valid identity documents.

In a similar manner, 40 Pakistani Hindus received Indian citizenship certificates from Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi in August of this year at the Ahmedabad collectorate. Since 2017, 1,032 Pakistanis have been granted citizenship by the Gujarat district of Ahmedabad.

An individual may be granted Indian citizenship on eight different grounds, according to current laws: if a person of Indian origin registers for it; if a person is married to an Indian; if a person's parents, who are minors, are registered as Indian citizens; if a person, or either of their parents, was a citizen of Independent India; if a person is an Indian citizen of another country; and if a child is naturalized and born in India.