Woman in Assam becomes first to get Indian citizenship after two years in detention camp

A woman in southern Assam’s Barak Valley has become the first to get Indian citizenship after spending two years in a detention camp for people declared non-citizens by Foreigners’ Tribunals, a quasi-judicial body that settles nationality disputes.

The Bangladesh-born Dipali Das, 60, was granted a certificate of naturalisation on Friday (March 6, 2026) for fulfilling the conditions of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019. The certificate has been signed by Biswajit Pegu, the Director of Census Operations.

Dharmananda Deb, a Silchar-based lawyer, told The Hindu that Ms. Das was born in Dippur village in Bangladesh’s Sylhet district on December 3, 1966. She married Abhimanya Das in January 1987, a little more than a year after she and her husband fled religious persecution to enter India.

“Her ordeal in India began after Ajmal Hussain Laskar, a police sub-inspector, referred her to a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in July 2013. It was stated in the reference that she entered India after March 25, 1971, and failed to produce any valid documents supporting her Indian nationality,” Mr. Deb said.

The Assam Accord of August 1983 has March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for detecting, detaining, and deporting foreigners from the State. The CAA virtually overrules the cut-off date for non-Muslims who fled to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan on or before December 31, 2014.

The FT Number 6 in Silchar declared Ms. Das an illegal immigrant on February 5, 2019. Following the tribunal proceedings, she was lodged in the Silchar Detention Centre from May 10, 2019, to May 17, 2021. The electoral registration officer concerned was also instructed to delete her name from the voters’ list.

The Silchar Detention Centre was one of six in Assam that functioned from central jails. The State now has a solitary centre, renamed Transit Camp, to hold 3,000 declared foreigners. This camp is at Matia in western Assam’s Goalpara district.

Ms. Das, a mother of six, applied for Indian citizenship under the CAA on February 12, 2025. Apart from Mr. Deb, advocate Debosmita Shome and social worker Kamal Chakraborty helped her get Indian citizenship.

“Her case is historic because no one else has been granted Indian citizenship after being declared a foreigner and spending months in a detention centre. Her case is significant for the implementation of the CAA,” Mr. Deb said.