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13-03-2024
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI: India’s government has announced plans to enact a controversial citizenship law that has been criticized for being anti-Muslim.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will allow non-Muslim religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to seek citizenship.
The authorities say it will help those facing persecution.
The law was passed in 2019 – sparking mass protests in which scores of people died and many more were arrested.
Rules for it were not drawn up in the wake of the unrest but have now been, according to the country’s home affairs minister Amit Shah.
He made the announcement on Monday, writing on social media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “delivered on another commitment and realized the promise of the makers of our constitution to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries”.
India’s home ministry in a statement said that those eligible can now apply online for Indian citizenship. An online portal for receiving applications has already been set up.
The ministry said that there have been “many misconceptions” about the law and its implementation was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This act is only for those who have suffered persecution for years and have no other shelter in the world except India,” it added.
The implementation of the CAA has been one of the key poll promises of Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the run-up to general elections this year.
It amends the 64-year-old Indian Citizenship law, which currently prevents illegal migrants from becoming Indian citizens.
Under the new law, those seeking citizenship will have to prove that they arrived in India from Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan by 31 December 2014.
Monday’s announcement did not come as a surprise to many, as BJP leaders have been dropping hints over the past few months that the law could be implemented before the elections. After the notification was issued, BJP handles trended hashtags like “Jo Kaha So Kiya” (We did what we said) online.
In the meantime, protests against the CAA have started in some states, including Assam, where the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) – which spearheaded the 2019 protests in the north-eastern state – has given a call for a shutdown on Tuesday.
In the southern state of Kerala, the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) party has called for state-wide protests. “This [the law] is to divide the people, incite communal sentiments and undermine the fundamental principles of the Constitution,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, adding that the law would not be implemented in his state.
Critics of the CAA say it is exclusionary and violates the secular principles enshrined in the constitution, which prohibits discrimination against citizens on religious grounds.
