Central Government Gives a Green Flag To Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) guidelines have been notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs, opening the door for the law’s nationwide implementation. The law facilitates the process of obtaining Indian citizenship for refugees who are Sikh, Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, and Parsi, and who are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

The Ministry spokesperson posted on X (Formerly known as Twitter), that the applications for citizenship will be completely submitted online.

“Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will be notifying today, of the Rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA-2019). These rules, called the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 will enable the persons eligible under CAA-2019 to apply for a grant of Indian citizenship. The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided,” the official X handle said.

The development comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed that before the Lok Sabha elections, the law will be implemented.

CAA aims to provide citizenship to non-Muslim migrants who came to India before December 31, 2014.

Protests broke out in several cities of the nation after the law was enacted in 2019.

Amit Shah said no power can stop the CAA law from being implemented.

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“This will be implemented before the elections…this is the law of the country, no one can stop it, this is set in stone, this is the reality,” Amit Shah said addressing an event.

Additionally, Amit Shah had declared that the CAA was a national initiative. He assured minorities that no one’s citizenship would be taken away by the legislation.

Amit Shah, while addressing a summit in February said, “The CAA is an act of the country…It will be notified before the polls. There should be no confusion around it. Minorities in our country, and especially our Muslim community, are being provoked…The CAA cannot snatch away anyone’s citizenship because there is no provision in the Act. The CAA is an act to provide citizenship to refugees who were persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan.”

Amit Shah also said that the law was promised by the Congress government.

He stated, “CAA was a promise of the Congress government. When the country was divided and the minorities were persecuted in those countries, Congress had assured the refugees that they were welcome in India and that they would be provided with Indian citizenship. Now they are backtracking.”

On Thursday, Mamata Banerjee, the supremo of the Trinamool Congress and the chief minister of West Bengal, declared that her government would not permit the state to execute the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) or the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Mamta Banerjee said, “We will not allow CAA, nor NRC, nor the politics of dividing Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, nor the false politics of dividing the Matua community, nor the false politics of dividing Hindus and Muslims. We do not accept this. They sent over 400 teams to Bengal. How many teams did you send to Manipur, where our sisters were burned?”