The Union Home Ministry on Monday notified the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), paving the way for granting of citizenship to people of certain faiths facing persecution in neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and having moved to India before 2015.
The CAA was an integral part of the BJP’s 2019 manifesto. The law will enable the granting of citizenship to people of non-Muslim faiths, mainly Hindus, Sikhs, Jain, Buddhist, and Parsi communities, who had migrated to India before December 31, 2014, from neighbouring nations because of religious persecution.
The CAA was enacted by the Parliament in December 2019 amidst large-scale demonstrations from the Muslim community and backed by Opposition parties. The announcement comes on the back of Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent assertions that the CAA will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections, slated for April/May.
"CAA is an act of the country... it will definitely be notified. CAA will come into effect before the election, nobody should have doubts about it," the Home Minister had said at an event in the capital.