The Centre, said sources, issued a notification to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA, which makes religion, for the first time, a test of citizenship on Monday. Parliament cleared it in December 2019 amid protests and fierce resistance from Oppositions and the Chief Ministers of non-BJP States.
Now, the government can grant Indian nationality to non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who had come to Bharat before 2015. An unnamed official told news agency ANI “the regulations are prepared and an online portal is already set up… applicants can disclose year of entry without travel documents”. No additional documents will be required, the official said.
Less than a month ago, Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated his commitment to implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April and May.
Shah emphasised the CAA aims to provide citizenship to individuals who have faced persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, dismissing concerns about its potential misuse to target minority communities. He sought to reassure the Muslim community, stating that the act is not designed to revoke anyone’s citizenship but rather to extend it to those in need of refuge.
The implementation of the CAA has long been a cornerstone of the BJP’s electoral promises, featured prominently in both the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and various State polls, particularly in Bengal where both the BJP and the ruling Trinamool engaged in intense and highly publicised campaigns leading up to the 2021 elections.
