After Legal Battle Of 6 Years, Assam Woman Regains Her Indian Citizenship

A 50-year-old Assam woman, who was declared an illegal migrant from Bangladesh due to her mismatch names in voters' lists, has now regained her Indian citizenship after a six-year-long legal battle.

Dulubi Bibi, a resident of Cachar district's Udharbond area, was declared a foreign migrant by the Foreigners Tribunal in 2017 in Assam's Silchar district based on her mismatched names in the multiple voter lists.

Last week, Ms Bibi was declared as an Indian citizen based on circumstantial evidence.

The Foreigners Tribunal officer wrote in its order dated 7/10/2023, a copy of which is available with NDTV, that considering the facts and materials submitted and depositions in the earliest and present detailed of 1965, 1985 and 1997 along with the new documents of 1993 and 2015 voters list are to be appreciated without any doubt.

Expressing her happiness after proving her citizenship, Ms Bibi said; "Today I am happy because I got my Indian Citizenship. After having Indian Citizenship, I was branded as Bangladeshi. My grandparents are Indian Citizens how I can branded as Bangladeshi. For two years I stayed in Silchar detention centre, I am a Muslim woman and my family is conservative. I used to work as a cook before going to jail."

"I'm not sure my husband will accept me or I'll get any works now. Will the government take responsibility of this damage," she further told while speaking with NDTV.

In March 2017, during the hearing of a 1998 case under the Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunals Act, she was declared as a Bangladeshi national after her name was found mismatch in the electoral roll.

Foreigners Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that decides the citizenship status of persons living in Assam, also found inconsistencies in her father's and grandparents' names in voters' lists.

Following this, she was arrested in April 2018 and sent to a Silchar-based detention centre.

After spending two years in a detention camp, she was released on bail in April 2020 following a direction of the Supreme Court.

In May 2023, she challenged the 2017 FT-order in the Guwahati High Court.