Bangladeshi man Dulon Das first person to obtain Indian citizenship under CAA

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 14, 2024

The 50-year-old man Dulon Das from Silchar in Assam’s Cachar district is the first person from Assam to get Indian citizenship after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) rules were notified.

The Ministry of Home Affairs notified Das of his successful application on August 13, at 3:41 pm.

Das 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 said he received a message from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday about his citizenship.

Das said he was asked to visit the Regional Passport Office in Guwahati to collect his citizenship certificate.

Das has been voting in the state since 1996 and his family members have documents such as Aadhaar.

They did not apply for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) since it was impossible to establish the family tree. Having come to India post 1971, Das applied for citizenship under CAA.

A father of two children, Das bought land in Silchar in the early 2000s and got his driving licence during that time.

The citizenship process included police verification and Das produced documents such as the deed of their land ownership in Sylhet.

Eight people applied for citizenship under CAA across Assam. So far two of them have withdrawn.

Six applications under CAA from Assam are under the review of MHA and four of them have documents to get citizenship sooner.

The central government notified the CAA rules in March before the general elections.