“Union Home Ministry is likely to notify Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules by today,” news agency ANI reported citing sources. ETOnline has not verified this report independently.
Officials of the Narendra Modi government claimed recently that the rules will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections which are slated to take place sometime around April-May.
Home Minister Amit Shah in February said once the rules for implementation of CAA are announced, the process to grant Indian nationality to the beneficiaries will start soon after.
These rules seek to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians – from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who had come to India till December 31, 2014.
“The CAA is a law of the country and its notification will definitely be issued. It will be issued before the polls. The CAA will be implemented before the elections. No one should have any confusion about it,” Shah said at the ET NOW Global Business Summit 2024.”When the Partition happened – Hindus, Buddhists, Christians – all wanted to come to India after facing religious persecution there. They (Congress leaders) had promised to give citizenship to these people saying all of you are welcome. But the (Congress) leaders went back on their word,” Shah added.He clarified that the bill is not a law to snatch anyone’s citizenship. “Our Muslim brothers are being instigated on the issue of CAA. CAA can’t snatch anyone’s citizenship as the law does not have that provision. CAA has been enacted to give citizenship to those people who have come from Bangladesh and Pakistan after facing religious persecution. No one should oppose this law,” he said.
Widespread protests erupted in some regions of India after the Parliament gave its nod to the bill in December 2019.
Officials have said that the rules have been prepared, and an online platform has been established, facilitating the entire process to be conducted digitally. Individuals applying will need to disclose the year of their entry into India without travel documents. No documentation will be requested from the applicants.
According to the law, the benefits under the CAA will be given to the undocumented minorities from the three countries.
