New Delhi- The Centre on Monday implemented the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, a move that comes four years after the contentious law was passed and paves the way for citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
The rules were notified days ahead of the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. With this, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries.
Union Minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has delivered on another commitment and realised the promise of the makers of the Constitution.
“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.
“The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided,” the spokesperson added.
The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the president’s assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it, with many opposition parties speaking out against the law calling it “discriminatory”. The law could not come into effect as rules had not been notified till now.
“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 Narendra Modi Ji has delivered on another commitment and realised the promise of the makers of our Constitution to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries,” Shah said on X.
The Congress and other opposition parties slammed the government’s step, alleging it is designed to polarise the coming Lok Sabha elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also alleged that the announcement is yet another attempt to “manage the headlines” after the Supreme Court’s strictures on the electoral bonds issue.
“After seeking nine extensions for the notification of the rules, the timing right before the elections is evidently designed to polarise the elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam,” the Congress leader said.
Kerala CM Pinaray Vijayan described CAA as a communally divisive law and asserted that it will not be implemented in the state.
According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should be framed within six months of presidential assent or the government has to seek an extension from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Since 2020, the Home Ministry has been taking extensions at regular intervals from the parliamentary committee for framing the rules.
No document will be sought from the applicants, an official said.
Pakistani Hindu refugees, who have been living a life of uncertainty, welcomed the government’s step.
Dharamveer Solanki, a leader of Pakistani Hindu refugee families in Delhi, told PTI that around 5000 from the community will receive citizenship now.
“I and my family have been waiting for this for over a decade now. We are extremely happy that we will be finally called Indian citizens. I am glad I decided to return to my homeland in 2013,” Solanki said.
Over 100 people lost their lives during the anti-CAA protests or police action. On Monday, security was stepped up in Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and other areas of the national capital as well as in various states where anti-CAA protests were held in the past.
On December 27, 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that no one can stop the implementation of the CAA as it is the law of the land and accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misleading people on the issue.
Addressing a party meeting in Kolkata, Shah said it is the BJP’s commitment to implement the CAA.
The TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, has been opposing the CAA since the beginning.
The promise of implementing the controversial CAA was a major poll plank of the BJP in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in West Bengal. The saffron party’s leaders consider it a plausible factor that led to the rise of the BJP in Bengal.
In the last two years, over 30 district magistrates and home secretaries in nine states have been given powers to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
According to the annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs for 2021-22, from April 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, a total of 1,414 foreigners belonging to these non-Muslim minority communities from the three countries were given Indian citizenship by registration or naturalisation under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The nine states where Indian citizenship by registration or naturalisation is given under the Citizenship Act, 1955 to non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra.
Authorities of none of the districts of Assam and West Bengal, where the issue is politically very sensitive, have been given the powers so far..
With the Centre notifying the rules of CAA, the demand of relocation of Rohingya refugees settled in Jammu has come to the fore with some political parties and social organisations batting for fulfillment of their demand, while the opposition is calling it a move to polarise the electorate.
According to government data, over 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi nationals, are settled in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, where their population increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016.
“The decision of the government to implement CAA is purely vote bank politics by the BJP. They are trying to get benefit by polarising the electorate,” National Conference (NC) leader and former minister Ajay Sadhotra told PTI.
However the BJP welcomed it by saying that it is a relief to the persecuted persons.
“We welcome the decision of the government. It is a good step to grant citizenship to persecuted persons,” J-K BJP chief spokesperson Sunil Sethi told PTI.
He said issues like Rohingya refugees settled in Jammu and Kashmir should be addressed by removing them from Jammu as they are a threat to security of the UT.
They are a burden on the resources of this country and they have no reason to reach Jammu from 3,000 kilometers away from the border area they have come from, Sethi said, adding that there is obviously some plan in this.
J&K Congress spokesman Kapil Singh hit out at the BJP government by saying that it is purely a step towards polarisation.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government are claiming huge development in the country but it is clear that they want to take advantage of polarisation for electoral gains. This is a step towards that,” Singh said.
The Shiv Sena Dogra Front (SSDF), while welcoming the decision of the government, called for deportation of the Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis back to their countries.
“We welcome the decision of the government. But we have been batting strongly that Rohingyas and Bangladeshis settled in Jammu should be deported back to their countries. There were huge agitations in this regard,” SSDF president Ashok Gupta said.
Rakesh Kumar of Bajrang Dal also welcomed the move and called for immediate shifting of illegal immigrants in Jammu.
The rules for implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) were notified on Monday, paving the way for granting of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, officials said.
With the CAA rules being issued, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India till December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.
The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the president’s assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it.
The law could not come into effect as rules had not been notified till now.
Following massive protests and agitation by most of the political and socio-religious parties in Jammu, the administration and police carried out a massive crackdown against the illegal immigrants in Jammu and Kashmir since 2021 to identify, isolate and put them in lodging centres.
During a verification drive in March 2021, the police found over 270 Rohingya Muslims living illegally in Jammu city and subsequently lodged them in a holding centre inside the Kathua sub-jail.
The arrests were made from Kishtwar, Ramban, Poonch and Rajouri districts, while 100 Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals were booked, the officials said.
Over 110 FIRs have been lodged against those giving shelter to them and helping them in getting Aadhaar and other cards, they said.
Cases have been registered against people accused of providing shelter to the foreign immigrants in Satwari, Trikuta Nagar, Bagh-e-Bahu, Channi Himmat, Nowabad, Domana and Nagrota police stations.
During these searches, which were conducted in the presence of the magistrates, the police seized illegally-acquired Indian documents like PAN and Aadhaar cards and bank documents.
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