KENDRAPARA: The passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the Parliament has brought hope to a large number of Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh residing in the seaside villages of the district.
The spectre of deportation was hanging over as many as 1,551 immigrants who were served ‘Quit India’ notice by the district administration in 2005.
However, the possibility of getting Indian citizenship after CAB has lifted the fear. Deepak Mandal (45) of Pitapatha village under Mahakalapada block said he was a relieved man now that the Union Government passed the CAB.
“I was wrongly served the ‘Quit India’ notice despite being born in Kendrapara. My grandfather came to Pitapatha from Midnapore district of West Bengal in 1948. We are not Bangladeshis,” he said.
Asim Mirdha (50) of Hariabanka, whose grandfather came to Kendrapara from East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) after the partition of India as a registered refugee in 1948, said his family was delighted over the development.
“We were illegally served ‘Quit India’ notice which branded us as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. We challenged the order by filing a writ petition in the Orissa High Court which directed the Government in 2016 against taking any coercive action against us. The CAB has brought us a big relief,” he said.
Similarly, Bhabotosh Ray (46) of Hariabanka said, “My grandfather came to Kendrapara from Khulna district of Bangladesh in 1971. The Narendra Modi-led NDA Government did the right thing by passing the CAB to grant Indian nationality to people belonging to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Now, nobody will call us foreigners.”
In 2015, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had informed the Assembly that 3,987 Bangladeshis were illegally staying in the State. The highest number of 1,649 infiltrators were staying in Kendrapara district.