‘Stateless’ man fights for citizenship

[ad_1] Bahison Ravindran says he at all times believed he was Indian.

Born to Sri Lankan refugee mother and father within the southern Indian Tamil Nadu state, the 34-year-old net developer had studied and labored there, and held a number of government-issued identification paperwork, together with an Indian passport.

However a impolite shock awaited him in April when police arrested him, saying his passport was invalid.

Authorities stated he was not an Indian "citizen by delivery" since each his mother and father had been Sri Lankans who had fled to India in 1990 amid the civil conflict there.

For lengthy, anybody born in India certified for Indian citizenship, however a 1987 modification to the regulation required not less than one dad or mum to be an Indian citizen for a kid born after 1 July of that yr to qualify.

Mr Ravindran, who was born in 1991 inside months of his mother and father' arrival in India, advised the Madras Excessive Court docket in Chennai final week that he was unaware of the rule and had by no means hidden his ancestry from authorities.

He additionally advised the courtroom that as quickly as he was knowledgeable that "citizenship by delivery" was not automated in India, he instantly utilized for "citizenship via naturalisation".

However for now, he has change into "stateless".

His distinctive state of affairs spotlights the plight of hundreds of Sri Lanka's Tamil refugees in India who fled the island nation throughout its decades-long battle within the Eighties.

Greater than 90,000 of them reside within the southern state, each in refugee camps and outdoors, in response to the Tamil Nadu authorities.

Many selected the state as a sanctuary due to historic ties, linguistic and cultural similarities and geographical proximity to Sri Lanka.

And now there are greater than 22,000 people like Mr Ravindran, who had been born in India after 1987 to Sri Lankan Tamil mother and father.

However a long time later, their citizenship standing stays in limbo.

A part of the reason being that India is just not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Conference or its 1967 protocol and considers Sri Lankan refugees as unlawful migrants.

The 2019 Citizenship Modification Act (CAA), which fast-tracks functions from persecuted non-Muslim minorities from India's neighbouring nations, additionally excludes Tamils from Sri Lanka.

The standing of Sri Lankan Tamils is an emotive topic within the state, with totally different political events promising to assist resolve their citizenship issues. However for many, it stays a distant dream.

India solely granted citizenship to the primary Sri Lankan Tamil in 2022 - Okay Nalini was born a yr earlier than the 1987 regulation that mandated Indian citizenship of not less than one dad or mum. A minimum of 13 extra Tamils have been granted citizenship since.

Mr Ravindran hopes his case will probably be taken up quickly. He pledges allegiance to India and says he by no means intends to return to Sri Lanka.

He just lately advised the BBC that he has travelled to the island nation simply as soon as in his life – in September 2024 to marry a Sri Lankan girl.

He says his troubles started after he utilized for a recent passport to incorporate the title of his partner this yr.

Lawyer Sandesh Saravanan, who's representing Mr Ravindran in courtroom, advised the BBC that he was given a recent passport after verification by the police, who had been conscious of his Sri Lankan parentage.

However the Foreigners Regional Registration Workplace (FRRO), which oversees the registration of foreigners in India, later flagged his mother and father' origin to the police, he stated.

Mr Ravindran was arrested final month on expenses of dishonest, forgery and illegally holding an Indian passport and held in custody for 15 days, earlier than being freed on bail.

Fearing additional punitive motion, he approached the Madras Excessive Court docket final week, which ordered authorities to not take any coercive motion till the following listening to on 8 October.