108 migrants from Pakistan awarded citizenship
Recently, 108 migrants from Pakistan have been granted citizenship in Gujarat.
In the year 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs gave an order in which the Collectors of some districts of the states of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab were given powers to perform the following tasks:
Under Section 5 and 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 respectively:
- To provide certificate of registration and naturalization of citizen of India to any person belonging to minority community coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
- Any foreign citizen, except illegal immigrants, can acquire Indian citizenship by naturalization.
But they fulfills the following conditions –
- They has been ordinarily resident in India for 12 years;
- Must have resided in India during the 12 month period immediately preceding the date of application, and must have resided in India for a total of 11 years in the 14 years preceding these 12 months.
- Other entitlements specified in the Third Schedule to the Citizenship Act, 1955.
- Indian citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, registration and naturalization.
Citizenship in the Constitution:
- Part II of the Constitution, Articles 5-11, deals with citizenship. However, there is neither any permanent nor any detailed provision in this regard. Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 provide detailed provisions as to who will be a citizen of India after the coming into force of the Constitution.
- Article 11 empowers the Parliament to make any provision regarding acquisition and termination of citizenship. It recognizes only those persons who became citizens of India at its inception (i.e. on January 26, 1950).
- It is not related to the problem of obtaining or terminating citizenship after its commencement. It empowers the Parliament to make laws for such matters and any other matter related to citizenship. Accordingly, Parliament has enacted the Citizenship Act (1955), which has been amended from time to time.
How is citizenship defined?
- Citizenship refers to the relationship between the individual and the state.
- Like any other modern state, India too has two types of people – citizens and foreigners. Citizens are full members of the Indian state and owe allegiance to it. They have all civil and political rights.
- ‘Citizenship’ is an idea of exclusion because it excludes non-citizens.
There are two well-known principles of granting citizenship:
- While ‘jus soli’ grants citizenship on the basis of place of birth, ‘jus sanguinis’ recognizes blood relations.
- Since the time of Motilal Nehru Committee (year 1928), the Indian leadership was in favor of the enlightened concept of ‘jus soli’.
- The racial idea of ‘jus sanguinis’ was also rejected by the Constituent Assembly as it was against the Indian ethos.
Source – News on AIR
