Aug 28- 70-year-old Joseph Pereira, a senior citizen from Pakistan is the first person in the state to get Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). CM Pramod Sawant handed over the citizenship documents to him in a function held at Panaji. Pereira informed that he was trying to get Indian Citizenship for past 11 years. His was the lone application received by Goa govt under CAA. Pereira had migrated to Pakistan before Liberation in 1961. He moved to Goa after marrying a Goan woman and has been living in Cansaulim with his wife since. As per CAA, migrants who entered India by December 31, 2014, and had suffered “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution” in their country of origin like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh were made eligible for citizenship under the new law.
