50-yr-old Dulon Das becomes first in Assam to get citizenship under CAA

Dulon Das (50) has become the first person in Assam to receive citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), sparking strong reactions from opposition parties and student groups.

Originally from Bangladesh's Sylhet, Das entered India in 1988 and settled in Silchar, Cachar district. He did not apply for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) but managed to obtain various government documents, including a voter card, driving licence and PAN and Aadhaar cards, despite his illegal status, one of his kin alleged.

"He applied for citizenship through the dedicated online portal on April 1. It was approved yesterday and he received a mail from the Union Home Ministry. Das has now been asked to collect the citizenship certificate physically," he added.

During the application process, Das provided a land deed from his father, who had purchased land in Sylhet district in 1986. Das is married to an Indian woman, and they have two children born in Assam.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis entering India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after five years of residence here.

Reacting to the development, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "AASU claimed that 20 lakh Bangladeshis would receive Indian citizenship. They should be ashamed now, though they remain shameless even after only one person has received citizenship."

He said that when the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) will observe martyr day next time, the government will observe it as a betrayal day.

"They betrayed the people of Assam and destabilised a smoothly functioning government. Had there been no CAA movement, we would have done a lot of achievements considering our speed of work. They should apologise today," Sarma said.

AASU chief adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya said the organisation and the people of the state do not accept CAA and a case is pending at the Supreme Court.

"The government has forcefully implemented it on the basis of their numbers. If there are negligible people, then there is no need for CAA in Assam and Northeast. The Assam CM can speak to PM Narendra Modi and settle these negligible people in Gujarat," he added.

The attempt to give citizenship to illegal Bangladeshi people is an extreme insult to the martyrs of Assam, Bhattacharjya said.

Opposition Raijor Dal President Akhil Gogoi in a statement condemned giving Indian citizenship to a Bangladeshi national in Assam.

"CAA is a threat to our identity. Despite losing five youths in the anti-CAA movement in 2019, the government went ahead and now started giving citizenship to illegal immigrants. This act is anti-Constitution and a threat to democracy," the MLA said.

Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) too criticised the government and said BJP and Sarma have insulted all the indigenous people through CAA.

"Giving citizenship in the backdrop of the present situation in Bangladesh is a grave concern for Assam and Northeast. The region is already under identity threat. CAA has made the Assam Accord completely ineffective," AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said.

He said it is not about how many people have been granted citizenship under the CAA, but the issue is that the process of granting citizenship to those who illegally entered Assam from Bangladesh has begun.

"Today, one person has received citizenship. Tomorrow, many more will get it. The BJP government is granting citizenship to illegal immigrants purely for vote-bank politics," Gogoi said.

According to the Assam Accord, names of all foreigners coming to the state on or after March 25, 1971 would be detected, deleted from electoral rolls and steps would be taken to deport them.