On August 28, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant presented an Indian citizenship certificate to Joseph Francis Pereira, a 78-year-old Pakistani Christian, under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Pereira is the first person from the coastal state to receive this recognition.
Joseph Francis Pereira travelled from Goa to Pakistan for studies before liberation and later took up a job there. He obtained Pakistani citizenship and lived in Karachi until he returned to India in 2013.
The Chief Minister stated that despite being married to a Goan woman, Pereira encountered difficulties obtaining Indian citizenship until the central government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amended the Citizenship Act of 1955. The certificate was presented to Pereira in the presence of State Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte.
The CAA was enacted in December 2019 to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.
Born in 1946, Pereira married Maria from the coastal state and returned to India on September 11, 2013, after his retirement, according to government records. Originally from Paroda village in South Goa, Pereira now lives with his family in Cansualim, also in the same district.
CM Sawant informed reporters that Pereira is the first Goan to receive this certificate, though many individuals across India have used the amendment to the CAA to obtain Indian nationality. He said there are many Goans who can be given citizenship in a similar way under the CAA.
According to the certificate, Pereira has been registered as a Citizen of India under Section 6B and has met the conditions specified in Section 5(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, effective from the date he entered India.
Sawant stated that the Goa Home Department has started surveying individuals in similar situations. “Those who believe they are eligible for the certificate can reach out to the government,” he added.
Earlier in May, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued the first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), marking a major milestone in the Government’s effort to streamline the citizenship process for eligible migrants. Union Home Minister Amit Shah revealed that, on the same day, 300 individuals in Delhi were granted citizenship under the CAA, stating the law’s role in protecting persecuted minorities.
The Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024, notified on March 11, paved the way for implementing the CAA, which had been passed by Parliament in 2019. These rules allowed migrants from six minority communities—Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians—from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh to apply for Indian citizenship with retrospective effect.
Under the CAA, migrants who had entered India by December 31, 2014, and had faced religious persecution or fear of persecution in their home countries were eligible for citizenship. The law shortened the residence requirement for naturalisation from eleven years to five, expediting the process for these individuals.
The issuance of citizenship certificates to the first 14 individuals under the CAA represented a significant step in advancing the rights of persecuted minorities. The Government remained dedicated to supporting those seeking refuge and a new beginning in India.
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