On Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs released a directive allowing collectors in Gujarat’s Mehsana and Anand districts to provide citizenship certificates under the Citizenship Act of 1955 to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
It should be underlined that the announcement has nothing to do with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, which has yet to take effect.
In accordance with Sections 5 (by registration) and 6 (naturalization) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, the announcement made on October 31 is meant to assist lawful immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who have previously registered for citizenship.
Ahead of polls, MHA to grant citizenship certificates to refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan in two Gujarat districts- issues a notification.@Sabyasachi_13 shares details.#Gujarat #MHA pic.twitter.com/oZLPbErNtg
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 1, 2022
The most recent notice states that applications must be filed online and must first undergo district-level verification by the Collector before being forwarded to central authorities.
The MHA had previously delegated such powers to district magistrates or collectors. Similar orders issued in 2016, 2018, and 2021 gave District Magistrates in a number of districts of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab the authority to issue citizenship certificates to migrants from the six communities who entered India with valid documents of identity.
In a related vein, 40 Pakistani Hindus received Indian citizenship certificates from Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi at the Ahmedabad collectorate in August of this year. Since 2017, the Gujarati district of Ahmedabad has awarded citizenship to 1,032 Pakistanis.
According to current laws, an individual may be granted Indian citizenship on eight different bases: 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; if a person is an Indian citizen of another country; and if a child is naturalized and registered at an Indian consulate.
