The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is considering easing norms for minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India on valid documents, but whose passports and visas have since expired. The ministry is considering making some additional features in the citizenship portal to allow the same, it is learnt. In December 2019, the Parliament amended the Citizenship Act granting citizenship to immigrants belonging to Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Parsi, Christian and Buddhist communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — but not Muslims. The legislation was passed amid strong criticism from the Opposition and triggered massive nationwide protests. MHA sources Tuesday said the matter of making changes in the portal — to accept expired passports and visas as supporting documents to process citizenship applications — is at the discussion stage as of now. In MHA, the Foreigners Division deals with matters relating to visa, protected area permit (PAP)/Restricted Area Permit (RAP) regimes, immigration, citizenship, overseas citizenship of India, acceptance of foreign contribution and hospitality. “From April 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, a total of 2,439 Long Term Visas have been granted by MHA for minority communities from three neighbouring countries. This includes Pakistan (2,193), Afghanistan (237) and Bangladesh (9),” its annual report said. Last year, the MHA had issued a gazette notification granting powers under existing rules to authorities in 13 districts of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab to accept, verify and approve citizenship applications from members of minority communities hailing from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. A similar notification had been issued in 2018 as well for other districts in several states.
