The controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), passed in 2019, is notified today weeks ahead of the 2024 General Elections. The act grants Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants i.e. Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India by December 31, 2014.
What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)?
Under this act it aims to protect the citizens who sought to have refugee in India due to religious persecutions. It stands as a shield protecting them against any illegal migration proceedings. The act says that to be eligible for this protection , applicants must have entered India on or before December 31, 2014. Currently, as of now, Indian citizenship is granted to those born in India or who have lived in the country for at least 11 years.
The agreement also includes a provision for the cancellation of Overseas Citizen of India(OCI) registration if the OCI cardholder violates any provision of the Citizenship Act or any other law.
But who does it excludes?
Many leading opposition parties have been raising arguments regarding the BJP proposed law that the law is plain discriminatory as it targets Muslims, who make around 15% of India’s population. The current Modi government explains that since Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are Islamic republics with a Muslim majority, Muslims cannot be considered prosecuted minorities. But they assures that applications from other communities will be reviewed o a case-by-case basis.
The Congress party questions the timing amendment of the act accusing the BJP government that it is intended to polarize the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Assam and West Bengal.
CAA and its pointers:
- The Indian citizens will be granted to the immigrant who has lived in India in the last 1 year and at least 5 of the last 14 years. As earlier for the migrants, citizenship by naturalization was 11 years.
- The law excluded the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya , Mizoram , and Tripura as included in Sixth Schedule of the Constitution including other tribal areas of Garo Hills in Meghalaya, Karbi Anglong in Assam, Chakma district in Mizoram, and Tribal areas district in Tripura.
- After the CAA passed in December 2019 there were huge mobs and protests in some parts of the country, including the Northeastern region and got the presidential assent.
The Modi government today notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024.
These rules will now enable minorities persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire citizenship in our nation.
With this notification PM Shri @narendramodi Ji has…
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) March 11, 2024
Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the notification of Citizenship (Amendment) Rules +,2024 and said its implementation would enable minorities prosecuted on the grounds of religion in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire citizenship in India.
It says, ” With this notification of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji has delivered on another commitment and realized the promise of the makers of our constitution too the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries,” the Home Minister said in a tweet.
The CAA, enacted by Parliament on December 11, 2019, has been a subject of intense debate and widespread protests across India.
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