Odisha CM gives away citizenship certificates to 35 persons from Bangladesh

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday (December 11, 2025) gave away citizenship certificates to 35 persons, who have migrated from Bangladesh to India under Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.

Now, total 51 persons have been granted citizenship under CAA in Odisha while 1100 applications are under process.

According to Directorate of Census, all 35 persons who received citizenship certificate belonged to Hindu religion. Most of them had fled from Bangladesh when they were subjected to torture at the hand of Muslim majority there.

“I have no idea under which circumstances we were forced to leave Bangladesh. What my parents, who are dead now, said Muslims resorted to genocide in retaliation to Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. All in Hindu majority neighbourhood were forced to change their religion. If anyone protested, they were persecuted and women were subjected to sexual assault,” said Paritosh Sarkar, 37, who along with younger brother and elder sister, received certificate from Mr. Majhi.

After fleeing to Umarkote in southern Odisha district of Nabrangpur via Kolkata, these siblings were settled down and married into Hindu Bengali emigrants who were settled in Odisha and erstwhile Madhya Pradesh after independence.

Similarly, Kiran Mandal, 27, is lucky as he has been granted citizenship while his brother and mother could not satisfy the district and State level committees with their documents. Their applications are being studied further.  

Southern Odisha districts of Malkangiri and Nabarangpur are ready address for the Bangladeshi emigrants.  

A large number of Hindu Bengali emigrants had entered India in 1950s from East Pakistan when they faced high degree of discrimination, persecution and harassment. They landed in West Bengal. However, the West Bengal government then could not handle large influx of Bengali emigrants. The Centre had then selected sparsely populated Dandakaranya region of Madhya Pradesh (now Chhattisgarh) and Odisha for their resettlement. Total 280 villages were set up in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts. 

Since then whenever there was any problem in Bangladesh, Hindu Bangladeshi emigrants knocked the door of their relatives settled in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur.

As per the rules of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 notified March 11, 2024, individuals belonging to minority communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 have been deemed eligible for Indian citizenship.

Welcoming the new citizens at a special programme jointly organised by the Directorate of Census Operations, Odisha, and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr. Majhi said, “you are now part of our future. Your safety, dignity, and development are our responsibility and duty. I welcome you as citizens of India.” The CAA-2019 is sacred law which is hope and assurance for persecuted minorities, he said.

“In our country, minorities have the strength and space to raise their voices. But when minorities in neighbouring countries face persecution, those same voices remain silent. Today, however, this mindset is changing. The practice of selectively favouring only one religion in the name of secularism has come to an end. Discrimination on the basis of religion no longer exists in the country. In the eyes of the law, everyone is equal. The Citizenship Amendment Act is a successful implementation of this principle,” said Mr. Majhi.