Panaji: A 78-year-old Christian from Pakistan, who has been living in Goa since 2013, has become the first person from the state to get citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Born in 1946, Joseph Pereira, originally of Goan descent, migrated to Pakistan — before Goa was liberated and was under the Portuguese regime — and took up a job there, an Indian Express report said.
On September 11, 2013, Pereira returned to India — thus eligible for Indian citizenship. Originally from Paroda village in Salcete taluka, Pereira now lives in Cansaulim village of South Goa, with his family, the newspaper added.
While handing over the citizenship certificate, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that though Pereira was married to a Goan woman, he faced hurdles in getting Indian citizenship till the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi amended the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The CAA was enacted in December 2019 to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.
