GUWAHATI: A Bangladeshi national was notified with Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act making the person first in Assam to be granted citizenship.
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Dulon Das has become the first person in Assam to receive Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
The Union Home Ministry notified Das of his successful application on August 13, 2024, at 3:41 PM. Das, 50, applied for citizenship on April 1, 2024, with registration number 202400800772.
His family had migrated to Silchar from Bangladesh’s Sylhet region in 1988 due to repeated attacks. Despite living in India for over 30 years, Das and his family could not establish their citizenship through the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process.
Das entered India in 1988, reportedly due to religious persecution in Bangladesh, had been living in Silchar, Barak Valley, for nearly 36 years. Das is among ten migrants from Bangladesh who have applied for citizenship under the CAA. Das received the news of his CAA application approval on August 14, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Assam Accord, following the Assam Agitation a historic movement against illegal immigration in the state.
The decision has drawn strong opposition from certain quarters, especially from the All Assam Students Union (AASU).
The students’ body, which played a pivotal role in the Assam Agitation, expressed outrage over the granting of citizenship to a Bangladesh national, viewing it as a “betrayal of the Assam Accord”.