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Nearly 4,000 people from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, hundreds of them Muslims, have been given Indian citizenship in the past six years, a senior Home Ministry official said on Wednesday.
The disclosure came amidst protests, some of them violent, in different parts of the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from these three neighbouring countries.
As many as 2,830 people from Pakistan, 912 from Afghanistan and 172 from Bangladesh have been given Indian citizenship in the past six years and hundreds of them were Muslims, the official said, adding that such migrants will continue to get Indian citizenship if they fulfil eligibility conditions.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act does not target any religious community from abroad, he asserted.
Those opposed to the law have objected to making religion as the basis of granting citizenship.
The official said Muslims are the majority community in these neighbouring countries and they will continue to get Indian citizenship if they fulfil eligibility conditions already provided in the law for registration or naturalisation.
Besides the 4,000-odd people, about 14,864 Bangladeshi nationals were also granted Indian citizenship after incorporating more than 50 enclaves of Bangladesh into Indian territory post the boundary agreement between the two countries in 2014, the official said.
During 1962-78, more than two lakh Burmese of Indian origin fled from Burma after many trades and businesses were nationalised there and properties of such Indians were forcibly taken by the State.
They were settled in various parts of India.
In 2004, the central government delegated the power to grant citizenship by registration to six collectors of Gujarat and Rajasthan states and the government of Gujarat in respect of Hindu migrants displaced due to 1965 and 1971 wars or those Hindu migrants who had migrated from Pakistan five years before.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...yrs-many-muslims-officials-1629446-2019-12-18
The disclosure came amidst protests, some of them violent, in different parts of the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from these three neighbouring countries.
As many as 2,830 people from Pakistan, 912 from Afghanistan and 172 from Bangladesh have been given Indian citizenship in the past six years and hundreds of them were Muslims, the official said, adding that such migrants will continue to get Indian citizenship if they fulfil eligibility conditions.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act does not target any religious community from abroad, he asserted.
Those opposed to the law have objected to making religion as the basis of granting citizenship.
The official said Muslims are the majority community in these neighbouring countries and they will continue to get Indian citizenship if they fulfil eligibility conditions already provided in the law for registration or naturalisation.
Besides the 4,000-odd people, about 14,864 Bangladeshi nationals were also granted Indian citizenship after incorporating more than 50 enclaves of Bangladesh into Indian territory post the boundary agreement between the two countries in 2014, the official said.
During 1962-78, more than two lakh Burmese of Indian origin fled from Burma after many trades and businesses were nationalised there and properties of such Indians were forcibly taken by the State.
They were settled in various parts of India.
In 2004, the central government delegated the power to grant citizenship by registration to six collectors of Gujarat and Rajasthan states and the government of Gujarat in respect of Hindu migrants displaced due to 1965 and 1971 wars or those Hindu migrants who had migrated from Pakistan five years before.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...yrs-many-muslims-officials-1629446-2019-12-18
