Key Points
Dipali Das, a Bangladesh-born resident of Assam’s Barak Valley, has become the first person declared a foreigner by a Foreigners’ Tribunal to receive Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Das spent nearly two years in the Silchar detention centre after being declared an illegal immigrant in 2019 before being released in 2021 following a Supreme Court order.
Her case is considered significant for the implementation of the CAA, which provides a pathway to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India on or before 31 December 2014.
Bangladesh-born Dipali Das from Assam’s Barak Valley was the first person to become an Indian citizen under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on 6 March 2026. She had eaelier been declared a non-citizen by Assam’s Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) and spent nearly two years in a detention centre.
Dipali Das, 60, received a certificate of naturalisation after authorities determined that she met the conditions for citizenship under the CAA. The certificate was signed by Biswajit Pegu, Director of the Directorate of Census Operations in Assam. Lawyers involved in the case said the naturalisation certificate makes her eligible for the full rights and obligations of Indian citizenship.
Dipali Das was born on 3 December 1966 in Dippur village in Bangladesh’s Sylhet district. According to her lawyer Dharmananda Deb, she fled religious persecution and entered India with her husband Abhimanya Das in February 1988. The couple settled in Assam’s Cachar district, where they raised six children.
Her citizenship status came under scrutiny in July 2013 when a police officer referred her case to an FT, stating that she had entered India after 25 March 1971 and failed to produce documents proving Indian nationality.
The date of 25 March 1971 serves as the cut-off under the 1985 Assam Accord for identifying and deporting illegal immigrants in the state. The tribunal ruled in February 2019 that Das had entered India after the cut-off date and declared her an illegal immigrant liable for deportation. It also ordered that her name be removed from the electoral rolls.
Following the tribunal’s decision, she spent nearly two years in the Silchar detention centre between May 2019 and May 2021. She was released following a Supreme Court order.
At the time, the Silchar facility was one of six detention centres operating within central jails in Assam for people declared foreigners by tribunals. The state now operates a single dedicated centre, renamed a Transit Camp, in Matia in western Assam’s Goalpara district, with capacity to hold up to 3,000 declared foreigners.
After her release in 2021, Das pursued a legal route to citizenship following the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act rules in 2024. She submitted her application in February 2025.
Her lawyer said the police chargesheet filed in 2013 ultimately helped establish her eligibility under the CAA, as it recorded that she had migrated from Bangladesh. Such documentary evidence is required to demonstrate migration from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan under the provisions of the law.
Advocate Debosmita Shome and social worker Kamal Chakraborty also assisted Das in pursuing her citizenship application. Lawyers involved in the case described the outcome as historically significant because no person declared a foreigner and detained in Assam had previously received citizenship through the CAA.
Das’s citizenship has been made effective from February 1988, the year she entered India. According to her lawyer, this also validates the documents she obtained in India over the years. Her children, who were born in India, may rely on her citizenship certificate if their own nationality is questioned in the future.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed by Parliament in December 2019, provides a pathway to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. The law covers Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Parsis who migrated due to religious persecution.
While the law eases the path to citizenship for these groups, it does not automatically grant citizenship. Applicants must meet eligibility criteria, including residency requirements and documentary verification of migration.
The CAA has been politically contentious since its passage, drawing widespread protests in several parts of India, including Assam. Critics have argued that the law is discriminatory because it excludes Muslims, while supporters say it provides protection to persecuted religious minorities from neighbouring countries.
In Assam, the law interacts with the legacy of the Assam Accord, which set the 1971 cut-off date for identifying illegal immigrants. The CAA modifies this framework for non-Muslim migrant groups who entered India before 2014. Muslim migrants still have to meet the 1971 cut-off.
Das’s case has drawn attention because it marks the first instance in which a person declared a foreigner by a tribunal and held in detention has successfully obtained citizenship under the law. Her lawyer said several other applications under the CAA are currently under process in Assam, including cases from the Barak Valley region where the law has received political support.
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