Indian govt announces implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act

The Indian government on Monday (Mar 11) announced the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA and notified the rules for it, days ahead of the general elections. It is now calledCitizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024.

The rules will facilitate the granting of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs earlier said in a tweet: “Ministry of Home Affairs will be notifying today, 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 grant of Indian citizenship.”

The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided.

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The home ministry said that the "Constitution of India grants us the right to provide religious persecuted refugees with fundamental rights and to grant citizenship from a humanitarian perspective". The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act was delayed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Indian National Congress (INC) slammed the Centre, with the party's general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleging that the timing of the announcement was "evidently designed" to polarise the coming Lok Sabha elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam.

Ramesh also alleged that the announcement is yet another attempt to "manage the headlines" after the Supreme Court's strictures on the electoral bonds issue.

"After seeking nine extensions for the notification of the rules, the timing right before the elections is evidently designed to polarise the elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam," the Congress leader said.

"The prime minister claims that his government works in a business-like and time-bound manner. The time taken to notify the rules for the CAA is yet another demonstration of the prime minister's blatant lies," he said in a post on X.

Police in Delhi tightened security in northeast Delhi, Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and other sensitive areas across the national capital.

North East Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Joy Tirkey said, "We have made arrangements in the North East district. Our experience in 2020 was unpleasant which resulted in heavy loss. The rules will be notified today and we were alerted by the Police Headquarters."

"We had a meeting of the Aman Committee where we briefed people of both communities. We have tagged the potential troublemakers and some known criminals. We are in touch with our beat constables and keeping an eye on social media too. We are doing a flag march for two days and will have an extensive flag march from tomorrow. Special care will be taken in sensitive areas through drones," he added.

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed in December 2019, and it got the president's assent. The law, however, could not come into effect so far as rules have to be notified for its implementation.

It was enacted through the Indian Parliament on December 11, 2019. The Act amended the Citizenship Act 1955 by offering a path toward Indian Citizenship for minority religions from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, or Christians who arrived in India before the end of December 2014.

It doesn't include Muslims, who migrated to India owing to religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The 2019 announcement had caused major anti-CAA protests nationwide and over 100 people lost their lives, as per reports.

(With inputs from agencies)