India grants thousands citizenship, manipulates Kashmir Muslim demography

The domicile certificates are in fact permission for residency and government occupation in the region which was specifically kept for the local people.

Going viral on social media, a picture of the domicile certificate was issued on Friday.

Amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in April the government authorized an unspecified number of outsiders for jobs and residency.

The distribution of certificates is different across the country with as many as 32,000 applications were filed in 10 districts of the Hindu majority Jammu region. The highest number of 8,500 certificates has been issued in the Doda district, which has a delicate demographic balance, with Muslims comprising 53.81% and Hindus 45.76%.

This is while as many as 6,213 domicile certificates, with 62.7% Muslim population, have been issued in Rajouri district and in the Kashmir region, with 96.4% Muslim population, 435 certificates have been issued.

A government official, on the condition of anonymity, said, since May 18, when the rules were notified, 33,000 persons had applied for the domicile certificates. Out of them, 25,000 persons have been granted citizenship rights.

The 25,000 new citizens include Hindu refugees, who had settled in the region at the time of partition of the sub-continent in 1947. They had migrated from territories, now part of Pakistan. But due to the
India is home to 10.3% of the world’s Muslim population as the majority of population is inhibited in Jammu and Kashmir (68.3%).