Hidayath Addoor re-elected as UAE BCCI president; Mushtaq Kadri named general secretary
Dubai: Hidayath Addoor has been re-elected as president of the UAE unit of the Bearys Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) for the 2026–2028 term. The decision was taken at the organisation’s annual general body meeting held on Sunday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Jumeirah, Dubai.
The meeting was held under the patronage of Dr Thumbay Moideen, founder chairman of the Thumbay Group and chief patron of BCCI. This marks Hidayath Addoor’s second consecutive term as president. During his previous tenure, BCCI had organised the ‘Beary Sammelana’ in Dubai in February 2025, which was widely described as a landmark event for the community’s business network.
At the same meeting, Mushtaq Kadri was elected as general secretary, while Hamza A. Khader was chosen as treasurer. Ashraf Shah Mantur was elected as convener.
Basheer Kinningar and Abdul Rauf (Abu Dhabi) were elected as vice-presidents, while Ansaf was chosen as secretary. Altaf M. was appointed in charge of media and communication. Mohammed Ali Uchil and Ashraf Balehonnur were named advisors.
Anwar Hussain Addoor, Saleem Moodbidri, Sufi Anwar and Shoaib were elected to the executive committee of the UAE unit of BCCI.
The meeting began with a recitation from the Quran by Ashraf, following which Ashraf Shah Mantur welcomed the members. Anwar Hussain Addoor presented the annual report, and Hamza A. Khader tabled the statement of accounts.
During the meeting, BCCI announced that entrepreneurs from the Beary community who are doing business in the UAE can register with the organisation. Interested business owners can contact BCCI and apply for membership by writing to bcciemirates@gmail.com.
BCCI said it will support newly registered members through business empowerment initiatives, networking events, seminars, business promotion activities and guidance for new start-ups. The organisation also plans to help entrepreneurs adopt new technologies, including artificial intelligence-based business tools, and provide guidance on dealing with present-day business challenges. BCCI has appealed to Beary entrepreneurs in the UAE to extend their cooperation and support to strengthen the platform.
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Woman declared foreigner gets Indian citizenship under CAA
Guwahati (PTI): A woman, who spent two years in detention after being declared a foreigner, has been granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam's Cachar district, her lawyer said.
The woman, identified as 59-year-old Depali Das, a resident of the Hawaithang area under the Dholai assembly constituency, was declared an illegal migrant by a Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) in February 2019.
Depali is the first declared foreigner in Assam who had once been lodged in a detention centre and later released on bail to receive Indian citizenship under the CAA.
The police detained her after the tribunal's order and sent her to the Silchar detention centre on May 10, the same year, where she remained for nearly two years before being released on bail on May 17, 2021, following a Supreme Court order, her lawyer Dharmananda Deb said.
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Depali was originally a resident of Dippur village under Dhirai police station in Bangladesh's Sylhet district and had married Abhimanyu Das of Parai village under Baniachong police station in Habiganj district in 1987, he said.
A year later, in 1988, the couple entered India and moved to Cachar district, where they have been living since then.
Her citizenship came under scrutiny in 2013 when police initiated an inquiry against her, and a chargesheet was submitted by the police on July 2, 2013, stating that Depali was a resident of Baniachong in Bangladesh and had entered India illegally after March 1971, Deb said.
"The chargesheet later proved crucial in her application for Indian citizenship under the CAA because the applicant must provide documentary evidence showing migration from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan," he said.
"In most cases, applicants fail to produce such documents, but in Depali's case, the chargesheet submitted by the police officer in 2013 clearly mentioned that she was from Bangladesh. The authorities accepted this document as valid proof," he added.
After her release on bail in 2021, she wanted to apply for citizenship under the CAA and had approached Deb for legal assistance once the rules of the Act were notified in 2024.
Her first hearing took place on February 24 last year at the office of the Superintendent of Post Offices in Silchar, which is designated to process such applications.
Two more hearings were held subsequently, after which all her documents were submitted online to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
"She was called to the office of the Superintendent of Post Offices in Silchar for a final appearance on May 25 last year after the field verification by Home Ministry officials, and on March 6, she received her Indian citizenship certificate," social activist Kamal Chakraborty said.
Her three children, a son and three daughters, can now rely on their mother's citizenship certificate if their own citizenship is ever questioned in the future, since all the children were born in India, he added.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, triggered widespread protests across the country, particularly in Assam.
The Act allows Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Parsi migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India between March 25, 1971 and December 31, 2014 to apply for Indian citizenship.
Before Das, four Bangladeshi nationals living in Assam were granted Indian citizenship under the CAA.
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