Guwahati, Mar 7: Depali Das, 59, from Cachar district, Assam, has become the first individual previously declared a foreigner and held in a detention centre to receive Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Das was declared an illegal migrant by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in February 2019 and detained at the Silchar detention centre for nearly two years. She was granted bail on May 17, 2021, following a Supreme Court order. Her lawyer, Dharmananda Deb, confirmed that she received her citizenship certificate on March 6.

Originally from Dippur village in Bangladesh’s Sylhet district, Das married Abhimanyu Das from Habiganj in 1987. The couple entered India in 1988 and settled in Hawaithang, Dholai constituency, Cachar district.

Police scrutiny of Das began in 2013, leading to a chargesheet on July 2, 2013, alleging illegal entry after 1971. The chargesheet later became key evidence for her CAA application, which requires proof of migration from Bangladesh.

Following the notification of CAA rules in 2024, Das applied with Deb’s assistance. Hearings began on February 24, 2025, at Silchar’s Superintendent of Post Offices, including field verification, and the final hearing took place on May 25, 2025, before approval by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Social activist Kamal Chakraborty noted that Das’s three India-born children—a son and two daughters—can now use her certificate if their citizenship status is questioned. Prior to Das, four other Bangladeshi nationals in Assam had received citizenship under the CAA.

The 2019 CAA facilitates citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014, and has been a subject of protests, particularly in Assam.