Indian citizenship for 3,117 minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan

MORE than 3,100 minorities from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have been granted Indian citizenship in the last four years, India’s minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament, on Wednesday (22).

Dr K Keshava Rao, a member of the house from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi party, raised the question regarding the total citizenship applications that were received from Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Christian minority groups from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and how many of them were given the citizenship of India.

Replying to the query, Rai said the number of citizenship applications received from those four minority groups from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the four years was 8,244. Of them, the government granted citizenship to 3,117.

The minister also said that all foreign nationals, including those seeking refuge, are governed by provisions in The Foreigners Act, 1946; The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and The Citizenship Act, 1955.

It may be mentioned that the government informed the Lok Sabha or lower house of the Indian parliament last week that more than 8.5 lakh Indians gave up their citizenship in the past seven years till September 30. It cited data available with the ministry of home affairs.

As many as 881,254 Indian nationals renounced citizenship since 2017, the government said.