What is CAA? How it fast-tracks Indian citizenship of religious minorities from South Asian nations
File photo of Hindu migrants from Pakistan at a refugee colony in New Delhi
What is CAA?Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government notified the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Monday, March 11, 2024. The announcement came just weeks ahead of the General Elections in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill amended the Citizenship Act of 1955. The amendmentbecame a law after it was passed by both houses of the Indian parliament in December2019.
The rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act were not notified till March 11, 2024.
What is the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)?
The Citizenship Amendment Act or the CAA provides for an accelerated pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from neighbouring Muslim-majority nations Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who arrived in India by December 31, 2014.
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The religious minorities listed within the ambit of the Citizenship Amendment Act include individuals from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian faiths whofled to India from the neighbouring Muslim-majority nationsdue to "religious persecution or fear of religious persecution".
Who will be eligible forIndian citizenship after CAA rules are notified?
The members of persecuted minorities who entered India before December 31, 2014, witheither Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh as their country of origin — will be eligible to get Indian citizenship following the notification of the CAArules. This is because the CAA fast-tracks the route to Indian citizenship for these persecuted minorities by six years and these migrants, because they entered India before 2014, will be eligible to get Indian citizenship.
The amendment relaxes the residence requirement for naturalisation of these migrants from 11 years to five.