New Delhi: It’s been nearly 10 months since Palash applied for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, which was designed to provide an accelerated path to Indian citizenship for specific groups of undocumented, persecuted migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before 31 December, 2014.
“I don’t know where to go and who to approach to find out where my citizenship certificate is,” he told ThePrint over the phone. After moving to India in 1996 from Bangladesh, Palash has been living here with his wife and son. His parents did not move with him. “I have to submit a citizenship application for my wife as well. Because I have not got mine, I am skeptical about applying on her behalf,” said Palash.
Unaware of which authority he should visit, Palash routinely checks the status online. “But the system provides me no answers,” he said.
Echoing the concerns of Palash’s family and similarly placed Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, non-profit organisation Aatmadeep had moved the Calcutta High Court with the request to direct the Election Commission, conducting SIR, to accept receipts, which the families have as proof of submitting applications for citizenship.
But the HC rejected the petition and the NGO moved the Supreme Court, which will hear the matter Wednesday.
Prasun Maitra, president of Aatmadeep, told ThePrint that there are approximately 50,000 applicants who are yet to hear from the Ministry of Home Affairs on the status of their citizenship. “We had given this data to the Calcutta HC, which the state did not refute or oppose,” he said.
On 1 December, a bench led by Chief Justice Suryakant issued a notice to the Centre and ECI on Aatmadeep’s petition, which draws judicial notice to the predicament faced by such migrants.
Senior advocate Karuna Nandy had argued the matter on behalf of the NGO. On that day the court had asked both respondents to submit their written replies to the petition. However, Anish Roy, who filed Aatmadeep’s petition, said he had not received any response so far from either of the two respondents (Centre and ECI).
“The delay in issuance of citizenship certificates, coupled with the non-recognition of acknowledgement receipts during the ongoing SIR has created a serious constitutional crisis. The affected persons, already recognised by Parliament as persecuted minorities of Aghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India deserving protection and integration, are now exposed to the risk of statelessness, social exclusion and disenfranchisement,” states the petition.
No effective grievance redressal
Liton, also waiting for citizenship, points out that the entire mechanism to apply for citizenship lacks an effective grievance redressal system. Requesting this reporter to get his application expedited, he said: “My family and I had filed our application through a charitable trust. It was done in June 2024. In our case the procedure, including submission of the form, interview and the verification process was complete in a month’s time. Whenever we approach the authorities in Kolkata to know how much time will they take to issue the certificate, the only answer we get is that our application is still pending. Each time, we have been assured that there is no discrepancy in our forms. Yet, there is no clarity about where the process is stuck.”
Aatmadeep president Maitra explained the drawbacks of the application process, saying the 2024 Citizenship Amendment Act rules do not specify a timeframe to issue the certificate.
“The application has to be processed under the CAA 2019. The procedure is prescribed in the 2024 rules under which the application form is submitted to the District Level Committee (DLC), constituted under the CAA rules, who then calls for the interview. The DLC has a maximum timeframe of 60 days within which it can call the applicant for an interview. The DLC has to submit a report to the state level committee that, as per the law, has 30 days to forward the application to the empowered committee, a central body. The IB conducts its scrutiny during the 60-day-period when the application is with the DLC who also has to record the oath of allegiance of the applicant,” Maitra said.
The empowered committee is a central body and is not required to either consult the state or seek its opinion. The chairman of census (operations) issues the digital certificate.
“When the rules were framed, the applicants were told that every application would be considered within a due period of time. However, we have come across cases where the applications are pending for an indefinite period. Moreover, there is nobody to tell them the status of the same. And there is no resolution for the same,” Maitra said, explaining why his NGO has sought judicial intervention.
Citizenship after waiting almost 2 years
Bijoy echoes Maitra’s concern. His grandfather’s dream of being recognised as an Indian was finally fulfilled last week, more than 21 months after he had applied for citizenship.
Bijoy’s grandfather, father and mother—all Hindu migrants from Bangladesh to seek shelter in India’s West Bengal in 1996—filed their applications soon after the rules were announced. On submitting the application, the trio appeared for a personal interview with the DLC. Their application process was finally completed after the Intelligence Bureau submitted a favorable green certificate to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
While his parents received the certificate early this year, his grandfather got it last week.
“There is a helpline number on which we called up innumerable times. But the operator who answered could not provide us with any answer about my grandfather’s certificate,” Bijoy told ThePrint.
Maitra alleged preferential treatment to candidates who have “political and social recommendation”.
Bikash, who is regularly in touch with Maitra for his certificate, submitted applications on behalf of his father and himself in August 2024. His family has been living in India for 13 years now. “Everything happened. An IB team came to our house and told us to wait. While our wait continues, one of my neighbours, who applied a month back, has already got the certificate,” said Bikash.
He said he was awaiting his certificate before applying on his mother’s behalf. “Now I am also worried that if our name is not included in the SIR, our voter card will also be cancelled. This certificate is very important for us,” he said.
Maitra explained that in many cases political leaders and organisations working actively to assist Hindu migrants wrote recommendations to the Centre to expedite release of the digital certificates. “Despite that there are thousands of families who have not heard anything about their certificates, pinning their hopes on the top court now,” he said.
Meanwhile, Liton has found a way out. He approached the RSS prachar pramkukh of his district. “I took my case to him and he has promised to get me the certificate soon.”
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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