Dulon Das, who fled from Bangladesh’s Sylhet district in 1988 to escape persecution and settled in Assam’s Silchar, has become the first in the state to secure Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The CAA speeds up citizenship for non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India by December 31, 2014.

Altogether eight persons from Assam had applied for citizenship under the CAA after its rules had been notified in March. Two of them have since withdrawn the pleas while the other applications are under examination.

Settled at Silchar in south Assam, Das, married with two sons, came to know
about the development from the Union home ministry on Tuesday afternoon.

Das, 50, a businessman, had not applied for the inclusion of his name in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) since he did not have the required documents to prove his credentials. Das, who had fled to India with his parents and two siblings and got married in Silchar, had applied for citizenship under the CAA on April 1.

The Brahmaputra Valley had witnessed massive protests against the implementation of the CAA, leading to the death of five persons in 2019. The anti-CAA brigade fears the CAA will open the floodgates for illegal immigrants, especially from Bangladesh, posing a threat to Assam’s culture and identity.

However, there was support for the CAA in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley.

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a party borne out of the anti-CAA movement in Assam, has condemned the development and the pro-CAA stand of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.