For K. Nalini, a resident of the Kottapattu camp in Tiruchi district for Sri Lankan refugees, April 19 is going to be a special day. “I am going to exercise my franchise on behalf of the entire community of refugees,” she says.
Ms. Nalini had established before the Madras High Court in September 2022 that she was an Indian citizen. She has enrolled as a voter of the Tiruchi (East) Assembly constituency, which, comes under the Tiruchi Lok Sabha constituency, and had gone to the Madurai Bench of the High Court to secure a passport. It was given to her after she won the case.
Though refugees from Sri Lanka are ordinarily considered “illegal migrants,” Ms. Nalini, who was born in the State in April 1986, was granted citizenship as the year of her birth fell between January 26, 1950 and July 1, 1987. In this period, all those born in India automatically acquired citizenship.
