Provided that if any person is a permanent resident of the territories now comprised in Bangladesh or his dependent is, in the course of his employment or for the pursuit of his studies, residing in a country, which was at war with, or engaged in military operation against Bangladesh and is being prevented from returning to Bangladesh, such person or his dependents, shall be deemed to be resident in Bangladesh.” Disqualification to the above article is provided under article 2 B, which is hereunder, -7(1) “ Notwithstanding anything contained in article 2 or any other 1 for the time being in force, a person shall not be , except as provided in clause 2), himself to be a citizen of Bangladesh if he – (i) Owes, affirms or acknowledges, expressly or by conduct, allegiance to foreign state or is notified under the provision of Article 2A ; (ii) Provided that a citizen of Bangladesh shall not, merely by reason of being of a citizen or acquiring citizenship of a state specified in or under clause (2) cease to be a citizen of Bangladesh. (2) The Government may grant citizenship of Bangladesh to any person who is a citizen of any state of Europe or North America or of any other state which the Government may, by notification in the official gazette, specify in this behalf.” In view of above provisions of the Act and President Order No. 149 of 1972, every person who or whose father or grandfather was born in the territories now comprised in Bangladesh and who was a permanent resident of such territories on the 25 day of March, 1971 and continues to be so resident unless disqualified under Article 2 B of PO No. 149 of 1972 shall be citizen of Bangladesh. In the acquisition of such citizenship, the laws have made no discrimination in any way on the ground of ethnicity, language, sex etc. Members of the Urdu-speaking people wherever they live in Bangladesh if they answer the above qualifications shall become citizen of Bangladesh and in view of the above provisions have already acquired the citizenship of Bangladesh by operation of law and no intervention of the Government is necessary. Such people have accordingly become eligible with the attainment of majority for enlistment as voters under Article 122(2) of the Constitution and the Election Commission is under constitutional obligation to enroll them in the electoral rolls as voters. No functionary of the Republic can deny such rights of the Urdu-speaking people who want to be enrolled as voters. On the disqualification under Article 2 B of PO No. 149 of 1972, this division had an occasion to deliberate in the case of Mukhtar Ahmed v Bangladesh. By a memorandum dated 05-10-97 the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the petitioner that he was not qualified to be a citizen of Bangladesh because he had registered his name from ICRC form for going over to Pakistan. Considering the