A Home Ministry spokesperson said the applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided.
New Delhi: The Modi government on Monday implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, notifying the rules four years after the contentious law was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
With the unveiling of the rules that came days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the Centre will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries. The rules comes into force with immediate effect, according to a Gazette notification.
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 said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has delivered on another commitment and realised the promise of the makers of the Constitution.
Official sources said CAA-2019 is a law to give citizenship and will not take away citizenship of any Indian irrespective of their religion, adding it is only for those who have suffered persecution for years and have no other shelter in the world except India.
Many misconceptions have been spread regarding the CAA, they said.
The CAA secured Parliament’s approval 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”. Over 100 people lost their lives during the anti-CAA protests or police action.
“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,” Minister Shah said on X.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said the applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided. The law could not come into effect as rules had not been notified till now.
While the Congress and other opposition parties slammed the government’s step, alleging the new law is designed to polarise the coming Lok Sabha elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called it historic and a “humanitarian decision”.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the announcement is yet another attempt to “manage the headlines” after the Supreme Court’s strictures on Monday 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,” he said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinaray Vijayan described the CAA as a communally divisive law and asserted that it will not be implemented in the southern state.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the Centre’s move is against the country and that it was “dirty politics” of the BJP to make poor people from neighbouring countries its vote bank in India.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she would fiercely oppose the CAA if she found it to be discriminatory against groups of people living in India and if it curtailed their existing citizenship rights in any manner.
