Team News Riveting
New Delhi, March 11
The Centre on Monday announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, 2019, about four years after the bill has been passed.
The Act was formulated for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. With the notification, the government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants—Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries.
The CAA was cleared by the Parliament in December 2019. A group however stalled its implementation by staging protest and violence in which over 100 people died.
“These rules, called the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 will enable the persons eligible under CAA-2019 to apply for the grant of Indian citizenship,” a Home Ministry spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Home Ministry said eligible individuals could submit applications in “a completely online mode”. No other documentation will be sought from the applicants, one official said.
Implementation of the CAA was a major poll plank for the BJP in the last general elections. The notification comes less than a month after Home Minister Amit Shah called the CAA “an act of the country” and said, “it will definitely be notified. CAA will come into effect before the election…”
Meanwhile, Ms Banerjee hit out almost immediately, telling reporters at a hastily-convened press conference that her government would steadfastly oppose “anything that discriminates (against) people”.
“If there is any discrimination, we won’t accept it. Be it religion, caste, or linguistic. They won’t be able to give citizenship to anyone in two days. This is just lollipop and show-off,” she declared.
The government has earlier said the Citizenship Amendment Act will help minorities from Muslim-dominated countries get citizenship if they fled due to religious persecution. However, critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates secular principles of the Constitution.
