The Ministry of Home Affairs is set to announce the regulations for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 before the model code of conduct for Lok Sabha elections.
The Centre could notify the rules for the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) before the Election Commission of India (ECI) implements the Model Code of Conduct before the Lok Sabha elections, India Today TV reported citing sources aware of the development.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently asserted that the CAA would be notified before the Lok Sabha elections and reiterated that the Act does not take away anyone’s citizenship as it lacks such provision.
“Our Muslim brothers are being misled and instigated (against the CAA). The CAA is only meant to give citizenship to those who came to India after facing persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It is not for snatching anyone’s Indian citizenship,” Shah said.
He also stated that the CAA was a promise of the Congress government and accused them of backtracking on their assurance to provide Indian citizenship to refugees persecuted in the aforementioned countries.
It is likely that the code of conduct might be implemented anytime in March. The regulations are ready and an online portal for the entire procedure, which will be carried out digitally, is already in place.
Applicants will be required to state the year they entered India without any travel documents and no further documentation will be needed.
“The regulations are prepared, and an online portal is already set up for the entire process, which will be conducted digitally. Applicants will need to disclose the year of their entry into India without any travel documents. No additional documentation will be required from the applicants,” news agency ANI reported quoting sources.
The CAA, proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, intends to offer Indian citizenship to oppressed non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who came to India prior to December 31, 2014.
The CAA 2019 aims to amend the Citizenship Amendment Act of 1955 to provide a fast-track pathway to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in their home countries.
The CAA’s implementation sparked protests at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh and protest gatherings in Assam’s Guwahati since its approval by Parliament in December 2019 and subsequent presidential consent.
Over a hundred people have died during these protests or due to police action following the law’s passage. The protests, however, fizzled out during the coronavirus-induced restrictions and lockdowns.
Even after more than four years of being passed in the Parliament, the CAA was not implemented since the rules and processes were yet to be finalised.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was passed by the Parliament on December 11, 2019, and was notified on December 12 of the same year.
The CAA amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 to provide a path to Indian citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis who migrated from neighbouring Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014.
The enactment of the CAA sparked a massive controversy and widespread protests across India, with critics arguing that it discriminates against Muslims and undermines the secular principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The government, on the other hand, defended the law as a humanitarian measure aimed at protecting persecuted religious minorities from neighbouring countries.
The evidence of religious persecution, however, will not likely be sought, according to the report, as it will be presumed that those who migrated did so due to persecution or fear of persecution.
The CAA was passed by the Parliament on December 11, 2019, and was notified on December 12 of the same year. However, the controversial law has not been implemented because the rules were not notified.
Earlier this month, Union home minister Amit Shah said that the CAA rules will be notified and implemented before the Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking at the ET-Now Global Business Summit (GBS) in Delhi, Shah said, “The CAA is an act of the country. It will be notified before the polls (upcoming Lok Sabha elections). There should be no confusion about it”.
It (the law) was a promise of the Congress government. When the country was divided, and the minorities were persecuted in those countries, Congress assured the refugees that they were welcome in India and that they would be provided with Indian citizenship. But they backtracked,” Shah added.