Bangladeshi Woman Held in Assam Detention Centre for 2 Years Gets Indian Citizenship Under CAA
Declared an illegal migrant by a Foreigners’ Tribunal in 2019, 59-year-old Dipali Das from Cachar district secures citizenship after CAA rules came into force in 2024.
Guwahati: Nearly seven years after being accused of being a Bangladeshi national and spending two years in a detention centre, 59-year-old Dipali Das has been granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam.
Das, a resident of Cachar district, was declared an illegal migrant by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in February 2019.
The case against her began after an Assam Police sub-inspector filed a complaint before the Foreigners’ Tribunal stating that she was suspected to have entered Assam from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971 — the cut-off date for citizenship in the state. Following the order, Das was detained and lodged in the Silchar detention centre on May 10, 2019.
Advocate Dharmananda Deb, who represented Das, said she remained in detention for nearly two years before being released on bail on May 17, 2021, following a Supreme Court order.
“Dipali was originally from Dippur village under Dhirai police station in Bangladesh’s Sylhet district. She married Abhimanyu Das of Parai village under Baniachong police station in Habiganj district in 1987,” Deb said.
According to the advocate, her citizenship first came under scrutiny in 2013 when a police inquiry was initiated. Investigating officer Ajmal Hussain Laskar later filed a chargesheet on July 2, 2013, stating that Das was a resident of Baniachong in Bangladesh and had entered India illegally after March 1971.
“Under Indian law, anyone entering Assam illegally after March 25, 1971 is considered a foreigner. However, the same chargesheet later became a key document in Dipali Das’s application for citizenship under the amended provisions of the CAA,” Deb said.
After being released on bail in 2021, Das sought to apply for citizenship under the CAA. Although the Act was passed in 2019, the rules required for its implementation were notified only in 2024.
The CAA allows Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Parsi migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India between March 25, 1971 and December 31, 2014 to apply for Indian citizenship.
