First Bangladeshi Woman in Assam Granted Indian Citizenship Under CAA: A Milestone Case

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was passed on December 11, 2019, had triggered widespread protests across Assam state.

A 40-year-old woman residing in Assam's Sribhumi district has become the first person to receive Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) after initially entering India from Bangladesh in 2007.

According to senior advocate Dharmananda Deb, a former Foreigners Tribunal member in Silchar, the woman with surname Banerjee originally came to Silchar to accompany a family member seeking medical treatment at Silchar Medical College and Hospital. While there, she met a man from Sribhumi (formerly Karimganj district), married him, and decided to stay in India. The couple subsequently had a son together. Though her family continues to live in Bangladesh's Chittagong region, she had long desired to become an Indian national and applied after the CAA rules were officially notified last year.

Her citizenship journey faced initial setbacks when her first application submitted in July last year was rejected due to jurisdictional confusion caused by the delimitation exercise before the Lok Sabha elections. The Badarpur area where she currently resides was partially transferred from Sribhumi to Cachar district, creating uncertainty about her administrative jurisdiction. After reapplying with legal assistance, her case was finally approved.

Advocate Deb confirmed that she is the first woman in Assam to receive citizenship under the CAA, and notably the first person in the state to obtain citizenship through the registration route.

"This citizenship was granted under Section 5(1)(c), read with Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which permits individuals married to Indian citizens to register as Indian citizens after residing in India for seven years," explained the senior advocate.

In addition to her case, a 61-year-old man from Cachar district has also been granted citizenship under similar provisions.

Deb revealed that the Ministry of Home Affairs issued the certificates on Friday, and the citizenship is considered effective from the date both individuals first entered India. To protect their privacy and prevent potential social harassment, Deb declined to disclose their full identities.

The CAA, which sparked significant protests across Assam when passed in December 2019, allows 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.

While Assam has nearly two hundred thousand individuals identified as doubtful citizens, only a small percentage have applied under the CAA thus far. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has consistently maintained that most Hindus migrated to Assam before the 1971 cut-off date.