MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently observed that the principles of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which granted persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh a chance to secure Indian Citizenship, could be applied to Sri Lanka. The Hindu Tamils of Sri Lanka were the primary victims of the racial strife in the island nation, it opined.
Justice GR Swaminathan made the observations while hearing a plea filed by S Abirami (29), a non-camp Sri Lankan refugee from Tiruchy, seeking Indian citizenship. The judge noted that though Abirami’s parents were migrants, she was born in India. “She has never been a Sri Lankan citizen and therefore the question of renouncing the same does not arise,” he said, adding that if Abirami’s request was not granted, it wiill create a risk of her becoming stateless. Such a situation has to be avoided, he added.
Pointing out the recent amendment made in the Citizenship Act, he observed, “Though Sri Lanka does not fall within the said amendment, the same principle is equally applicable. One can take judicial notice of the fact that the Hindu Tamils of Sri Lanka were the primary victims of the racial strife.” The judge directed the State to forward Abirami’s application to the MHA, with a further direction to the Ministry to take a decision on her application within four months.
Abirami stated in her petition that she was born in Tiruchy in December 1993. She said that her parents were not illegal immigrants and had come to India during the ethnic conflict through proper channels and her father had even extended his visa till June this year. Meanwhile, she and her mother got registered as non-camp (residing outside a rehabilitation camp) Sri Lankan refugees with the local police, she added. Though she possessed an Aadhaar Card and PAN Card, her efforts to get Indian Citizenship and passport proved futile, prompting her to approach the HC.
It may be noted that the Joint Committee on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in its report to the Lok Sabha on January 7, 2019, mentioned the reason provided by the MHA for not including Sri Lanka under the ambit of the amendment.
The report said, the MHA had clarified to the committee that the guidelines of the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Centre on December 29, 2011, would take care of the migrants or refugees from other countries, including Sri Lanka and Myanmar.