New Delhi, 1 November: The central government has decided to give Indian citizenship to the minorities who came from neighboring countries just before the Gujarat assembly elections. The centre has decided to give citizenship to the people of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, currently living in two districts of Gujarat.
According to a notification issued by the Home Ministry, refugees living in Mehsana and Anand districts of Gujarat will be given Indian citizenship. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians residing in these two districts will be allowed to register as Indian citizens under Section 5, Section 6 of the Citizenship Act 1955 and as per the provisions of the Citizenship Act 2009. All of them will be given a certificate of Indian citizenship. All these people were residing as refugees in Gujarat for a long time.
The notification issued by the ministry on October 31, said that the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 16 of the Citizenship Act, (57 of 1955), 1955, directs that the persons shall reside in the districts of Anand and Mehsana in the State of Gujarat. Any person, namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians in relation to the communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, shall be deemed to have entered India under section 5 of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The powers to be exercised by them for registering as a citizen or granting him a certificate of naturalisation under section 6 shall be exercised by the District Collector Anand and the District Collector Mehsana (Citizenship Rules, 2009).
The centre will not be exercising the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) for this.
