The Ministry of Home Affairs has officially notified the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) today, marking a crucial step towards the nationwide implementation of the law. Designed to facilitate Indian citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, and Parsi refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, the rules outline the application process.
In a statement released on official channels, the Ministry of Home Affairs emphasized the digital nature of the application process. “Applications for Indian citizenship under CAA-2019 will be submitted through a dedicated online portal, streamlining the procedure for eligible individuals,” stated the official communication.
This development follows Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent declaration that the CAA would be enforced before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The law’s primary objective is to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from specified countries who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Despite initial protests across the country when the law was enacted in 2019, Amit Shah reiterated its inevitable implementation, emphasizing that the CAA does not jeopardize anyone’s citizenship. He clarified, “The CAA is an act to provide citizenship to refugees who were persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan.”
Furthermore, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared her state’s opposition to the implementation of CAA and NRC, stating, “We will not allow CAA, nor NRC, nor the politics of dividing Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.”