Sri Lankan refugee camp resident from Tiruchi set to cast his vote for the first time

R. Gokuleswaran, 39, a resident of the Sri Lankan Tamils Rehabilitation Camp at Kottapattu, Tiruchi, will be casting his vote for the very first time as an Indian citizen in the upcoming State Legislative Assembly elections, with the hope of a brighter future for his family.

“I was born on February 9, 1986 in Tiruchi, and also studied here. I applied for my voter ID, because I wanted to assert my identity as an Indian citizen. The citizenship will improve the future of my children, and also inspire others like me who may not know about the citizenship process,” Mr. Gokuleswaran told The Hindu.

However, the camp resident’s victory has been bittersweet as his application for an Indian passport has been delayed.

“I applied for a passport because I was already a declared Indian citizen as I was born in the country before the cut-off date of July 1, 1987. But the authorities refused to issue it citing a ‘criminal offence,’ in my records. I filed a writ petition in 2024,” he said.

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, which held that Gokuleswaran was an Indian citizen under the Citizenship Act, 1955, issued an order on October 2025, for the passport to be issued within eight weeks. “I have still not received my passport,” said Mr. Gokuleswaran, who works in a supermarket.

Name removed

In contrast, his sister-in-law, K. Nalini, 40, who made headlines in 2024 as the first naturalised Indian from the Kottapattu camp to exercise her franchise, seems to be less certain about her chances to vote as her name has been removed from the electoral rolls. “I was advised to apply afresh; I have done so,” she said.

Ms. Nalini is a mother of two and a homemaker. “I am mentally disturbed by the omission of my name,” she said.

According to Madhini, 40, a camp resident who is coordinating efforts of citizenship applicants in Kottapattu, there are 25 refugee families that came here before 1990. “We are being asked to furnish proof of identity that have been lost or destroyed when we sought refuge in India. Some of us have spent over 40 years in this camp, and quite a few have died waiting for Indian citizenship,” she said.