Hummingbird News Desk
KOLKATA, 29 MAY: The central government issued a gazette notification on 28 May, directing the authorities in the 13 districts of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab to verify and accept the citizenship applications of people belonging to non-Muslim communities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians – from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
The order has been issued under the Citizenship Act 1955 and provisions of the Citizenship Rules 2009. The rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 are yet to be framed by the government.
The notification, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, says, “In exercise of the powers conferred by section 16 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955), the Central Government hereby directs that powers exercisable by it, for registration as a citizen of India under section 5, or for grant of certificate of naturalisation under section 6, of the Citizenship Act, 1955, in respect of any person belonging to minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians….”
It adds that this will be exercisable by the collector, within whose jurisdiction the applicant resides. The same power has been granted to the Secretary of the Department of Home of the states of Haryana and Punjab, except the district of Faridabad in Haryana and the district of Jalandhar in Punjab where the collector acts.
“The verification of the application is done simultaneously by the Collector or the Secretary, as the case may be, at the district level and the State level and the application and the reports thereon shall be made accessible simultaneously to the Central Government on online portal,” the notification reads.
The May 28 notification intends to benefit legal migrants (who entered on passport/visa) from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have already applied for Citizenship under Section 5 (by registration) and Section 6 (naturalisation) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The only way CAA could have helped the legal minority migrants is in fast-tracking their applications as it reduced the mandatory requirement of 11 years aggregate stay in India to five for citizenship.
Since the rules for CAA are yet to be framed and a minority applicant from the three countries, even if he or she came in 2014 becomes eligible for citizenship in the year 2025, but many have been residing in India for more than 20 years on long-term visas (LTV). An LTV is a precursor to Citizenship.
The applicants will have to apply online and citizenship certificate will be provided after security check by Central agencies and State police.
Under the existing system, minority communities from the three countries who entered India before December 31, 2009, may or may not choose to provide a copy of their passports but they have to provide the date of the visa and may upload the visa document in place of the passport while applying for citizenship.
The collector and secretary have been told to maintain an online and a physical register containing details of the person “registered or naturalised” as an Indian citizen. They have been directed to furnish a copy of the same to the central government within seven days.
The order has been issued under the Citizenship Act 1955 and provisions of the Citizenship Rules 2009.
In December 2019, Parliament amended the Citizenship Act granting citizenship to migrants belonging to Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Parsi, Christian and Buddhist communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. This led to widespread criticism and large-scale protests across the country.