MHA Issues Notification For Citizenship Of Non Muslim Refugees In 13 Districts

On the 28th of May, the Central Government issued a notice, empowering 13 district magistrates (DM) to give citizenship to non Muslims.

The Government of India gave authority to DMs of 13 districts in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan to take a decision regarding the citizenship of any person belonging to minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) extended its powers under section 5 of the Citizenship Act. As per the section, the DMs are authorised to register the minorities (refugees) as a citizen of India and under section 6 of granting certificate of naturalisation.

Districts which have the power to do so are:

Morbi, Rajkot, Patan and Vadodara in the State of Gujarat.

Durg and Balodabazar in the State of Chhattisgarh.

Jalore, Udaipur, Pali, Barmer and Sirohi in the State of Rajasthan. 

Faridabad in the State of Haryana.

Jalandhar in the State of Punjab.

With this, the DMs of the respective district would be asked to apply on behalf of the person who wants citizenship. The applicant would be given a registration/naturalisation number. These applications and reports are to be made accessible simultaneously to the Central Government on an online portal. The Collector or Secretary/DM is required to make the necessary inquiries for ascertaining the suitability of the applicant which may include verification of documents.

The notification of the MHA also states that the instructions issued by the Central Government from time to time in this regard should be complied with strictly. Following all the issued guidelines, the Collector or Secretary is empowered to grant citizenship to the applicant.

This citizenship would be by registration or naturalisation and certificate of registration or naturalisation. In order to keep transparency and authenticity, the Collector or Secretary is required to maintain an online as well as physical register containing the details of the person so registered or naturalised as a citizen of India and furnish a copy of the same within 7 days.

Saket Gokhale, an activist, questioned the step taken by the Government and said, “Rules for CAA haven’t yet been notified so it doesn’t apply. They have 7 days to respond.”

According to the Centre’s notification issued on the 28th of May, a slew of guidelines have been issued with regard to the naturalization of non Muslim (or minorities from) refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are currently living in India. Saket Gokhale said the new notification is clearly a case of “pure religious discrimination.”

Highlighting the issued notification, he said, “On what grounds is the Home Ministry inviting these applications? The rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act have not yet been notified. So this isn’t under CAA. Ergo, this is pure religious discrimination. Pls check your mail, @PIBHomeAffairs. We need to talk.”

The new notification is on the lines of the 2019 CAA, under which minorities such as Hindu, Christian, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhist from Islamic nations like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan would get citizenship in India. It is to be noted, the Central Government is yet to frame the CAA rules in India.