Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday awarded Indian citizenship to a 78-year-old Pakistani Christian, marking him as the first recipient of citizenship from the state under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Joseph Francis Pereira, a Pakistani Christian, received this status following changes made to the Citizenship Act, 1955. He has been residing in India since 2013.
Pereira’s journey to Indian citizenship
Originally from Paroda village in South Goa, Pereira went to Pakistan for his studies before Independence and later settled in Karachi, where he obtained Pakistani citizenship. After retiring, he returned to India in 2013. Despite being married to a Goan, Pereira encountered numerous obstacles in securing Indian citizenship until the central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, revised the Citizenship Act in 2019.
Impact of the CAA
The CAA, introduced in December 2019, allows persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, to acquire Indian nationality. This includes individuals from Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities.
CM Sawant presented the citizenship certificate to Pereira in the presence of State Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte. Sawant highlighted that Pereira is the first Goan to receive this certificate under the CAA, although many others across India have also benefited from the amendment.
The Goa Home Department is currently identifying others who may be eligible for citizenship under the CAA and has urged those who think they qualify to reach out to the government.
Pereira, born in 1946, is married to Maria, a Goan, and now lives in Cansaulim, South Goa. His certificate affirms his status as an Indian citizen under Section 6B and meeting the criteria of Section 5(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, from the date he entered India.
Sawant said that the process of reviewing similar citizenship applications is ongoing and encouraged eligible individuals to come forward.