Assam woman once declared foreigner gets Indian citizenship under CAA

In a remarkable turn of events, a 59 year old woman from Assam who once spent nearly two years in a detention centre after being declared a foreigner has now been granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), bringing an end to years of legal uncertainty.

Depali Das , a resident of Hawaithang in Assam’s Cachar district, had been declared an illegal migrant by a Foreigners’ Tribunal in February 2019 . The case against her began after a police inquiry into her citizenship status in 2013. During the investigation, authorities concluded that she was originally from Sylhet district in Bangladesh and had entered India after March 25, 1971 , the cut off date used in Assam to identify illegal migrants under the Assam Accord. Since she could not produce documents proving that she or her family had lived in India before that date, the tribunal ruled that she was an illegal migrant.

Following the order, she was detained by police and sent to the Silchar detention centre in May 2019 , where she remained for nearly two years before being released on bail in May 2021 after a Supreme Court directive allowing long term detainees to seek bail.

Her situation changed after the Citizenship Amendment Act passed in 2019 and its rules were notified in 2024 . The law allows migrants belonging to Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Parsi communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014 to apply for Indian citizenship. Since Das, a Hindu, had migrated from Bangladesh and had been living in India since 1988 , she became eligible to apply under the CAA.

Interestingly, the same police chargesheet that once helped authorities declare her a foreigner later became crucial proof in her citizenship application, clearly establishing her migration from Bangladesh.

After multiple hearings and verification by officials, her application was forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs , and on March 6 she finally received her Indian citizenship certificate . Activists say the case is significant as she is believed to be the first person in Assam who was once declared a foreigner and detained in a centre to later receive citizenship under the CAA .