A family from Sylhet, Bangladesh went to Assam in India for treatment in 2007. A daughter of the family fell in love with a local youth while undergoing treatment at Silchar Medical College Hospital. He eventually married her and stayed there. But his path to Indian citizenship was never paved. In 2019, the BJP government passed a law to grant citizenship to refugees from six religious communities, including Hindus. The Bangladeshi woman has applied for Indian citizenship through that law.
When the woman went to India for her mother's treatment, she was very young. A young man from Badarpur in Assam met him in the hospital. He also went to Silchar with his father for treatment. The treatment process in the government hospital is very complicated and this time the young man extended his helping hand to the girl. From there their friendship and love. Meanwhile, before returning home after her mother's treatment, the woman told the family about her love.
Both being from Hindu families, they got married according to Hindu customs and the Bangladeshi woman stayed in India. Later they had a child. The woman is living happily with her husband in Badarpur town of Karimganj district. But he never became a citizen of India. In the meantime, the process of NRC has started again in Assam. Many people receive notices from the Foreigners' Tribunal. The uproar started in Assam. The woman is in trouble.
Then, in 2019, the current BJP government introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA. It said that Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Sikhs and Parsis who have taken refuge in India from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan can apply for citizenship. Although the law has been passed, the government has not published its rules for a long time. The legislation was published in March this year. Then the woman applied for citizenship.
In April, several Bangladeshi refugees from Assam's Barak Valley applied for Indian citizenship through the Act. Among them was that woman from Badarpur. But within a few days he withdrew his application.
According to local lawyers, to claim citizenship through the CAA, the applicant must first prove that he left his country to enter India due to religious persecution, and only those who entered India before 12 midnight on December 31, 2014, can apply. After entering India, proof of residence in this country is also required to apply for citizenship under this Act.
Foreigner's Tribunal judge Dharmananda Dev said that last year, the Election Commission of India excluded a part of Badarpur in Assam from Karimganj district and added it to Cachar. The woman from Badarpur first applied as a resident of Karimganj. But later it was found that his house is under Cachar district. As a result, he withdrew his application and later applied again. He studied in Bangladesh and his family lives there. He has been in this country since 2007. As a result, he did not find it difficult to show the necessary documents in the CAA application. Now the process is progressing in various stages and we are hopeful that he will become a citizen of India soon.
According to Dharmananda, the rules for enacting the Citizenship Amendment Act are somewhat incomplete and complex. He said, 'All those who entered India from Bangladesh or Pakistan due to religious persecution could not bring the documents of that country with them. But the rules of CAA state that the applicant must show at least one such document. Maybe this is why many people are not applying. Again the process is so complicated that many cannot handle it. We are helping them voluntarily and nine people have applied so far by holding my hand. One of them got citizenship.'
The Bangladeshi woman's family spoke to Deutsche Welle but did not want to be identified. Their lawyers have requested that the woman's name not be released at this time. Because the process of getting citizenship is not yet complete.
